Naruto: Stance of Shadow
by WritingAgain
Summary: The Yondaime made one crucial mistake. He forgot to seal half of Kyuubi's chakra with himself as he died. Naruto is blessed with power that he could only have imagined in his wildest dreams. The power to Protect, the power to Survive and the power to Destroy. And he is cursed. Cursed to be plagued with dreams of shadow, darkness and demons. The Curse of Destiny.
1. It Begins

AN: Sorry for rapidly pushing off a lot of stories but… the thing is, I'm trying to find an idea that's better than my old Kageken Fiction. For those of you who haven't read it, it was my one masterpiece. For those of you who did read it… well, I just can't forget the thrill and the enjoyment I had in writing that story. I'm not going to rewrite it, I'm going to write something better. And I'm trying. Hence the rapid new publishes.

So… another Idea I'm firing off. I've been working on this one for awhile. Let's see how this folds out. I've got a good feeling about this one.

…

"_**You think that'll keep me in line, Yondaime?" **_

_The blonde man nodded. "Yeah… I think I will." He was smiling, ignoring the intense pain burning deep within his body. It felt as if his veins were burning from the inside out, his intestines trying to escape from his mouth through his stomach and it felt as if his fingernails were trying to dig into his hands. A single drop of blood dripped from the corner of his mouth._

_The man stood in front of his newborn child, his hands outstretched in from of his chest, channeling chakra into the technique that would seal the demon into his own child._

_And orchestrate his own death._

_But that didn't matter to him._

_All he cared about was saving his village._

_The demon thrashed trying, in vain, to escape from the threshold of the technique. But both he and the yondaime knew it was a futile gesture. The yondaime knew he had him and did not even move to intervene. The beast struggled, its head refusing to go into the newborn's stomach. He roared at the blonde trying to gather up the last of its strength to somehow do something. Minato just channeled more chakra into the technique._

_Then the Kyuubi laughed._

"_**You forgot something Yondaime," **__The Kyuubi muttered. __**"Every other host before him died. What makes him different from them?" **__The nine tailed beast laughed, its eyes bulging and its tongue lashing out to taste the air before it was sealed for years. __**"I'll kill him just like them. He's no different from them! I'll KILL HIM! I'LL DEVOUR HIM ALIVE! I'LL TEMPT HIM WITH POWER AND CONTROL! POWER TO DESTROY! POWER TO RULE! POWER TO TAKE ANYTHING HE WANTS!"**_

"_Geez, you're kind of being dramatic here don't you think so?"_

_The demon narrowed his eyes. _

"_**No one turns down power." **__The demon continued. __**"Power rules this world. From power comes conflict, fights, battles and wars. Power is the beginning and it is the end. You are a fool," **__The demon spat. __**"To think that your freshborn will be any different. Your kit will fall to temptation just like the others. He will fall. He will fall in to the black abyss, and I'll take him. I'll take him like I took the others. When I take him, I'll tell him it was his own damned father who sealed me within him." **_

_The yondaime grimaced. "He won't fall. He's the son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina. He's the son of two of the greatest shinobi that Konoha has ever produced. He is our son and he'll know right from wrong." He snarled, revealing an anger uncharacteristic of him. "My son will win against your temptations and your trickeries. He will not fall into your abyss or offers of power. He will fight against this world using his own strength and nothing else. And You, Kyuubi, will die when he dies knowing that he will have resisted you for a lifetime. That is what is left for you Kyuubi, Death and a lifetime spent in a cage."_

"_**A life time of a human is nothing to me, mortal." **__The Demon retorted. __**"I've seen how Jinchuurikis are treated… even I wouldn't wish that upon my own kits. You are a cruel man and your son will hate you for it. He will damn you for every waking second of his life, cursing his own father. He will crave the strength to destroy those who mock and shun him. Then he'll unleash me and laugh at the ruins."**_

_Minato smiled._

"_Not from Konoha," He whispered. "Not from Konoha."_

_The kyuubi was sucked into Naruto but not before having his last words._

"_**You're wrong… humans are the same Yondaime. Fire Country, Water Country, Lightning Country… they are all the same. They are the cruelest and the most evil creatures to ever roam this world."**_

"_**And you've just sentenced your son to a cursed life of a human sacrifice Minato."**_

"_**Remember that."**_

_Minato heard the Kyuubi's last words and took them to heart. _

_He couldn't even retort anything anymore. The Kyuubi was gone and wouldn't hear anything._

_The Yondaime released his technique and walked towards his son, his steps unsteady. He almost tripped a dozen times. Normally he would have used his trademark technique to appear at his son's side in an instant but it wasn't possible. Minato was dying and that kind of technique would ruin his body. Each step sent another fresh wave of pain throughout his body but there was something more important than resting. A small voice inside of him began to whisper, promising relief from pain if only he'd just lie down and close his eyes for a split second. But Minato had heard this voice millions of times before, while in the midst of battle._

_But like always, and as most men of character that are sentenced to the destiny of a Kage does, Minato ignored the voice and refused to give in. He simply took one step after another, focusing on not falling._

_For if he fell, that would be the end as he knew it._

_After what seemed like hours, which were actually grueling minutes, Minato kneeled in front of his son._

_His son, Namikaze Naruto, was in a small crib. The crib was at the center of a ring of complex seals that only the yondaime could understand. He glanced to the left and saw the dead body of his wife, Uzumaki Kushia, her vibrant red hair now only a dull shade of brown. She had suffered a lot when the Kyuubi was literally ripped out of her and Minato had been surprised that she had lasted as long as she did. He smiled a mixture of sadness at her death and being proud of her for living the life of a true shinobi._

_But the love he held for her was raging within him._

_He glanced at the village._

_He reached out a hand to stroke Naruto's cheek._

"_Hey little guy," Minato whispered, trying not to wake his son. "I'll be going after your mom in a few… so listen up."_

"_Remember to eat your vegetables… your mom hated vegetables but I'm sure she would have been the hokage instead of me if she ate vegetables. I wanted to teach you how to threw your first kunai and teach you your first jutsu but… I guess that's out of the picture now." He pointed towards the village. "Y-you're the same age as Fugaku's kid… second kid I mean. Itachi's a very gentle child. He'll take care of you. Also… Kakashi… he's been getting too hooked on naughty books lately… t-try to stay away from him._

_Minato jerked caught in a violent coughing fit._

_He began to see a swarm of shinobi rushing towards him from the distance._

"_M-make lots of friends Naruto." Minato felt something fall from his eyes. He didn't check to see if it was blood or tears. It didn't matter at this point._

_His voice turned softer._

"_I know," Minato's voice was softer than it had ever been in his entire life. "I know you'll be cursed at. You'll be beaten, choked, kicked while on the floor and people will hate you as long as you live. You'll go to sleep alone, in bruises, in the cold and in dumpsters. Our house will be seized or burnt down. People have short memories Naruto and fear is the biggest driving force for people to kill one of their own. I have no illusions about how people will treat you."_

"_I know I've damned you, my own son, to a cursed life." Continued Minato._

_Then he emphasized each word._

"_No one," said Minato. "And I mean no one, will ever love you."_

"_But I also know… that if anyone can overcome it, It'll be you. I was hoping your mom will survive and you'll atleast have someone who loved you but…" Minato smiled, leaning on the crib. "That boat's sailed."_

"_Good-bye Naruto…"_

"_And e-even if no one loves you… remember…"_

"_I love you son."_

_And that's how they found their Hero. The Yellow Flash of Konoha, the Fourth Hokage, the hero of the village, hailed as the strongest shinobi to be ever produced in the history of Konohagakure no Sato. The one who ended the third war and the kyuubi invasion._

_The one who had saved them all._

_And the father to the demon._

_They found him dead._

_But the smile of victory still clung to his lips._

_And that's how Naruto's life began._

…

"Naruto are you _ever _early for class?"

"S-sorry."

The blonde looked at his teacher. His teacher's face was clearly facing the black board and he had a chalk in his hand. From Naruto's viewpoint the only thing that he could see was Iruka's short ponytail and the chuunin vest that he wore. He saw the back of his tanned neck and that was it. Naruto squinted believing for just a split second, only a second, that there must be eyes on the back of his teacher's head. But he found none and found himself strangely relieved.

Iruka sighed and turned around facing the unruly blonde.

The blonde was wearing a black hoodie and dark navy blue jeans. He had the hoodie over his head making him seem unruly. His hair had grown out a lot over time, almost reaching the boy's neck.

People didn't take kindly to the boy. Last time Naruto had tried to cut his own hair he ended up having to cut everything off.

Ever since then the blonde grew his hair out.

His eyes were hidden by his bangs and further by the hood.

He saw the boy's body get smaller, almost into a ball when his gaze fell on him.

Naruto put his hands in his pockets and hunched his back, trying to make himself smaller. He even bent his legs as if he was expecting a blow. He lowered his gaze, not making eye contact. If there was anyone who was as good at turning invisible and showing submission than Uzumaki Naruto he had not found who it was yet.

"Just go to your seat Naruto," Iruka snapped. "And don't be late next time."

"Thanks Iruka-sensei." Naruto began to go up the stairs to the back of the classroom, in a hurry to escape the attention of his fellow students.

Someone stuck out a leg, tripping the blonde.

Naruto's chin hit the edge of the stairs and the blonde saw stars in his vision. But then wasn't it. His chin slid off of the floor after the initial impact and as his face fell his nose clipped the corner of the step as well and this time Naruto heard an audible crack. If Naruto was not used to getting beat he would have screamed.

Instead Naruto clutched his nose with his hand to stem the flowing tide of blood.

He turned to look whose leg it was.

Uchiha Sasuke.

With that damned smirk on his face.

Some of the kids in the class laughed while others simply looked, uninterested or interested with mild humor. The ones who were laughing were either girls who were in love with the guy who liked to have a duck's ass on his head or the boys who were Sasuke's little cronies. The ones who were watching with mild interest were the other most likely to succeed as ninja candidates, Kiba, Shikamaru, Chouji to name a few.

"Oops." Sasuke muttered, staring at the black board. "My bad."

Then he smirked.

"My foot was there first you know."

Naruto had to stop himself from throwing himself at the boy.

The last time he had thrown himself at Sasuke he had literally gotten his ass handed to him. It wasn't because Sasuke was a better fighter or anything, it was simply because whenever they fought, Sasuke's cronies or a girl from the crowd was always against him. They threw rocks, pushed Naruto or tripped him when they could. It was never a fight. But it didn't stop Sasuke from gloating about the fight afterwards.

Not to mention once word got to the 'higher-ups' as Naruto liked to call them, he was always reprimanded.

No allowance, no rent, no food for two weeks.

It was hell.

Naruto controlled himself and forced himself to his feet, continuing to walk up the stairs.

"Coward." Sasuke whispered, just loud enough for everyone to hear. Another ripple of laughter and giggles perpetrated the classroom.

"Sasuke-kun," someone, whom Naruto knew as Sakura, said in a bare whisper. "You're pretty cool."

Shaking with anger Naruto climbed the stairs.

Naruto sat down in his seat, all the way in the back of class. He was right behind Shikamaru and Chouji. Next to them sat Kiba and Hinata along with Shino.

Hinata turned around to catch a glance of Naruto.

She squeaked and turned back.

His blue eyes shone with eerie light through the shadow of his hood and his blonde hair.

But that wasn't what scared her.

The sheer hatred and the anger contained within had startled the girl.

She had a feeling it wasn't directed at Sasuke either.

Kiba peeked at the girl. Akamaru yawned from his foot and the genin reached down to scratch the dogs ears. Akamaru gave a playful nip to his fingers but Kiba ignored it. He quickly looked away when Hinata squeaked and turned around to look at the board once more. He turned the other way to hide his blush. He had a crush on Hinata starting last week. It happened when he had a sparring match with Sasuke. He had lost, but only barely. He knew it was because they weren't allowed to use ninjutsu but it had still stung his pride. Afterwards Hinata had come and gave him some ointment.

After that Kiba literally had hearts in his eyes.

And he was starting to develop a dislike for the blonde whom Hinata had an obvious crush on.

Naruto released his nose, knowing that the bleeding had already stopped. He sighed and used his sleeve to wipe the rest of the blood from his face. It was one of the reasons that he wore black, that no matter how much blood got on his clothes and no matter how long he went without washing it, it was always the same color, black. He looked at the black board, quickly losing interest in what his sensei was writing and talking about. He looked outside the window seeing a different class, seeing younger kids scream and run around.

Then Iruka said something that caught Naruto's attention.

"Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura." Iruka said. "team 7. Your sensei will be here in a moment."

Iruka smiled at the class. "It was great being in a class with you guys. It was my pleasure teaching you guys, one of the most talented individuals that I had the privilege of fostering. Not all of you may pass the genin test that your individual teachers will impose, and even fewer will go onto become chuunin and only a handful will ever attain the rank of jounin. But it is my belief that every single one of you in this room has the will and ability to do so." Iruka's smile faded and but the fire in his eyes did not go out. "It is up to you and only you, on whether you become a shinobi that is both powerful and respectable."

"Good-bye everyone, and remember," Iruka concluded. "That the next time we meet, we meet as equals."

With those final words Iruka left the room, which quickly escalated into excited talks and gossip.

Naruto watched from the back as the kids began to move seats to seat with their team members. Iruka had explained how important it was to be on the same team. They were now partners and family, they were to entrust their lives to each other in life or death types of missions. They would eat together, train together and in a sense, live life together. Iruka had hammered it into their brains how important the bonds between their genin teams were. A lot of genin teams eventually became chuunin teams and even worked together as jounins since it was shinobi procedure to work in teams.

But Naruto found himself relunctant to walk to where Sasuke sat and Sakura fawned.

"Go over there, RIGHT NOW!" A voice yelled in his ear.

Naruto growled and jerked away, covering a ear. He found the popular girl of the class, a blonde just like him, Ino Yamanaka standing right next to him, her arms folded over her chest with a seriously pissed off expression.

"What do you care?" Naruto snapped. He was getting pissed off. First he was late to class, then he was humiliated in front of the entire class by Sasuke and now he was getting yelled at by this blonde.

"I do NOT WANT TO LEAVE SASUKE-KUN ALONE WITH THAT PINK HAIRED SLUT." Ino reached out with a hand to grab the front of Naruto's shirt.

The blonde slapped it away. "None of my business… Yamanaka." He turned back to watch the window.

Ino rubbed her sore wrist. "Ow… no need to get so physical… loser." She muttered and went back to where Shikamaru and Chouji were. Naruto glared after her retreating back for a split second before turning his gaze to where the Uchiha and the Haruno sat. The situation had not changed from before, the pink haired kunoichi was still trying, though in vain, with the Uchiha. Naruto scoffed.

They didn't have to wait long for the captains of various teams began to come. First to come was this pretty looking lady who took Kiba, Hinata and Shino. She spoke in a clipped manner that made Naruto immediately think of her as a strict teacher. She also had an air of no disrespect and foul play allowed in her presence. The next to come was this bearded man calling himself Asuma. He had an atmosphere of wisdom and confidence that Naruto found reassuring. But he wasn't team 7's teacher, instead he took Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino. As they left the room, the blonde girl shot Naruto a quick look of resentment which he ignored.

Soon, only Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto remained in the room.

"Sasuke-kun what do you think our sensei will be like?" Sakura asked him with a smile.

Sasuke looked at her for a second before deciding to look at something else. Sakura pouted and began to storm her brain for a new topic to please her crush, something for which they could talk for hours. As she was pouting, Sakura crossed her arms and looked around the room for something to talk about and spotted the blonde sitting in the back, looking out the window of the classroom. She looked back and forth between Naruto and Sasuke, seeing that they had the same look and the same posture while looking out the window.

She couldn't help it.

She giggled.

"Hey Naruto," She called out, elated by the new discovery. "Why don't you come sit over here?"

Naruto turned, alerted that Sakura had said his name. He raised a single eyebrow, something which he found that not a lot of people could do.

"What?" said Naruto. He had, in truth, heard correctly but he was sure that he had fallen asleep or had been falling asleep. The blonde couldn't believe that his newly found teammates had asked him to sit next to her.

"Come on," coaxed the pink haired kunoichi. "It'll be awkward for the whole time if you don't at least talk to us. I know you're a quiet guy but-"

"Shut up." Naruto snarled.

"-we're willing to talk with you and- what?" Sakura widened her eyes at the sudden release of anger from the blonde.

"I said shut up." Naruto narrowed his eyes. "I don't consort with bullies or their little consorts." He ignored Sakura's gasp at his use of the word consort. "I don't have any intention of playing buddy buddy with the Uchiha, nor you Haruno. So stop trying to be my friend or pretending to be my teammate. The world is a cold and small place, no room for things like… friends." He smiled. "That way there's no room for backstabbing and heartache later on. Which you will suffer when the Uchiha finally speaks his mind and dumps you."

"_Dumb bitch." _Naruto added mentally but turned his face the other way and ignored the quickly whirling pools of tears in Sakura's eyes.

"No need to be such a jerk about it!" She said to him and looked at Sasuke.

Sasuke ignored everything that Naruto had said to her. He glanced at her and Sakura found the thing that she found every single time she looked at his eyes but this time it hurt her, possibly due to the combination of Naruto's words and the cold indifference in them.

Sasuke also had indifference.

Sakura quietly took a few steps away from Sasuke and sat down a couple of seats away from him. She covered her face with her arms and lay down on the desk, pretending to sleep. But Naruto could tell from the way that her shoulders shook that she was crying.

He sighed.

He regretted saying those things. But Naruto had a bad experience with the Haruno. She and Ino were the most loyal ones to Sasuke. Sure, she had just extended the hand of friendship for the duration but Naruto wasn't going to allow himself to be lulled into a false sense of camaraderie and friendship with the pink haired girl. As soon as he did, when he and Sasuke argued she would only take the Uchiha's side and he'd end up getting his feelings hurt.

Besides her parents were really mean to him anyways.

The mood in the room was definitely colder and more awkward than before.

Hatake Kakashi took that moment to stick his head in the door.

"Ah…" Kakashi muttered. Naruto observed him. While the other ones held an air of authority and power, this one radiated it. Power that is. The man held himself, completely confident, bordering on arrogance, of his own strength and self-worth. The man's single eye, the other one was covered by a Hiate, held an air of boredom but Naruto saw right underneath it. The man was kind of excited to see… the three? Sasuke most likely, in getting the honor to teach the last Uchiha. No, his look wasn't really aimed at Sasuke. The man was most likely just excited to teach. Either way, the man had a strong sense of duty and purpose that Naruto only found in the Hokage.

The man was strong.

Of that Naruto was sure.

"Come meet me on the roof." Kakashi smiled at them and stuck his head back out the door, deciding to take the stairs instead. _"Naruto… what's with those cold calculating eyes?... well… we'll see."_

The three got out of their seats. Sasuke left the door first, sparing a glance at Sakura who had painfully obvious puffy eyes. She sniffed once and looked at Naruto as he came down the stairs in the center of the classroom. Naruto looked back at her before leaving the classroom door.

Sakura sniffed once more and stood up following her fellow genin out of the door.

They found Kakashi sitting on the roof, patiently waiting for them. He was reading an orange book which he held with one hand, the other supporting the weight of his head by holding his chin. He didn't really look up when they came through the doors, his single eye moving left to right slowly. Sasuke sat down to the right of him and Naruto to the left. Kakashi calmly observed this, unknown to the two. Sakura came through the door and Kakashi saw the girl hesitate for a single second before sitting next to Naruto which shocked the blonde.

Naruto was spying the cover of Kakashi's book. There was the number eighteen in bold red ink within a big circle and a large slash going across it diagonally. Naruto knew what type of book their teacher was reading. He saw a lot of people reading it, mostly men and once he had been pelted with it. He had read enough of it to know that it wasn't a book for kids, hence the red number eighteen. Naruto looked into his teacher's eyes hoping to see disinterest in the book's content, that their teacher was only using it as a smokescreen from them.

No… his eyes were completely absorbed and they were almost bulging.

"_Our sensei's a pervert…" _Naruto mentally exclaimed. _"great." _

Kakashi slammed the book shut which shocked Naruto out of his musings. "Now! Can we do a round of self introductions?" He smiled at them from beneath the mask. "How about, name, likes, dislikes and… hobby? Future dreams?" He smiled, his single eye turning into an upside down U. "All those good stuff."

There was silence.

Kakashi nodded Sasuke's indifference towards his teammates. He glanced at Naruto whose eyes showed nothing but chilling anger. It was different than Sasuke's anger. Both were angry to be sure but where Sasuke's was a hot boiling anger at the world around him, Naruto's was a chilling madness that lay deep beneath the surface. Sasuke's was like a volcano that was about to erupt.

But Naruto's was a deep frozen lake and Kakashi didn't know how deep it was.

He looked at Sakura's puffy eyes. He felt bad for the girl that would have to play mediator between the two for the years to come. Kakashi looked into the air.

"Oh Kami," He said out loud, hoping to diffuse to mood and lift his own spirits in the process. "Why did you curse me like this?"

Sasuke's head snapped to the white haired man's face like a hawk locking onto a mouse. Kakashi stared right back and Sasuke broke it off first, looking down. Naruto looked at Kakashi like he was studying an interesting specimen, one eyebrow raised. Kakashi already found that single eyebrow raised to be annoying.

Sakura giggled a bit.

"_At least one person's a bit normal." _Kakashi thought. "Would you like to go first Naruto?"

The blonde blinked.

Kakashi was staring at Sakura.

"She's obviously Sakura." Naruto piped up.

"It was just a joke," said Kakashi. "Geesh, trying to lighten the mood. Come on guys, lighten up!"

"So would you like to go first Sakura?"

Sakura nodded. "I'm Haruno Sakura. I like... I mean… I like… I like being a shinobi I guess." Kakashi and Naruto caught the glance that she shot towards the Uchiha.

"_Something he did pissed her off." _Kakashi looked at Sasuke. _"Oh… just wait till she gets stronger Sasuke… you'll regret crossing her." _

"I dislike… stupid people I guess. Or loners." This time she shot a quick glance at Naruto.

"_Oh… Naruto helped him. Wow, teamwork in the wrong direction already." _

"My dream is to…" She hung her head. "I don't really have a dream."

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke glared daggers at the older man but it didn't work. He sighed and began.

"Name's Uchiha Sasuke. I like nothing. I dislike being weak or weakness of any kind. My hobby is training. My dream is to…" Sasuke hesitated. "I have no dream. I have an ambition."

"What's your ambition Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked despite herself. That's the first time Sasuke had revealed so much about himself.

Sasuke glared at her and this time it worked.

Kakashi calmly looked at Naruto. Sakura followed and even Sasuke turned his head, curious as to what the deadlast of his class would say.

"Name's Uzumaki Naruto." The blonde began. "I like…" He shrugged. "I like strength. I dislike bullies. My dream…" He smirked. "My dream is to become Hokage and change this village."

"Change this village?" Kakashi repeated with a frown.

Naruto nodded. "Change this village."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked, genuinely curious.

"We can get to the details later," Kakashi interjected. "But I regret to inform you that you guys are not genin yet."

Sasuke and Naruto's head snapped to attention, their backs suddenly straight.

"_Ah," _thought Kakashi. _"I finally have your full attention."_

Kakashi cleared his throat and continued speaking. "Tomorrow, at ten o'clock sharp, I will test you all three on the requirements to be a genin." He locked eyes with each of them, putting emphasis into his words to make them take his next words sseriously. "If you fail, you fail. Not only do you fail, you are kicked out of the ninja program. Mark my words… in my five years of teaching, not one team has passed my test."

Sakura gulped. Sasuke looked pissed off and Naruto simply looked mildly surprised.

"_I'm already finding this to be a repetitive pattern." _Kakashi sweatdropped. "I hate patterns." He whispered.

"What?" Sakura asked, her eyes already full of fear.

"Nothing." Kakashi tried to smile reassuringly but Sakura just looked more scared. "See you guys tomorrow then!" With those words as his farewell, the one eyed shinobi puffed into smoke, disappearing from existence.

The three were left alone once again.

"Guys," Sakura told them. "We have to do something or we're going to fail! That guy's crazy!"

"I don't care." Sasuke made a motion as to get up. "I'll pass on my own power. You two can fail for all I care."

Naruto's foot bumped into the Uchiha's chest forcing him to sit back down. Sasuke's temper flared up and he looked right at Naruto' his eyes wide and absolutely livid with fury.

Naruto stared right back, his hood still over his head and his blue eyes chilling Sasuke's fire with a coldness that shone right through his bangs.

"Sit down _Uchiha_," Naruto spat the name like a curse. "I don't want to work together with you anymore than you want to with me, but this is serious. Our opponent is a jounin."

"He didn't say anything about the test," Sasuke growled. "We don't even know how he's going to-"

"He will." Sakura interjected, her voice sure. "I'm sure of it. The way he said he's going to test us… we're going to have to work together."

Sasuke took a sharp intake of breath then exhaled. "So what? You want us to start devising team jutsus or something right now? Get real, the test is tomorrow. I'm leaving." He tried to stand again.

Naruto's foot forced him back onto his butt again, rougher than before.

Sasuke rushed forward, taking out two kunais in the blink of an eye.

Before Sakura knew what was going on Sasuke had both kunai's right next to Naruto's neck on either side. He had his teeth bared in a snarl, his eyes on fire.

On the other side Naruto sat coolly, leaning back, his foot on Sasuke's chest and one arm in his hoodie pocket. The other one was holding a kunai, its point right on Sasuke's Adam's apple.

Naruto smiled as Sasuke snarled audibly.

"Do it Uchiha," Naruto whispered. "I assure you it won't end like last time."

Sasuke leaned forward.

He felt the kunai stab a bit deeper into his adam's apple.

Naruto smirked.

Sasuke backed off just as fast as he had rushed forward. He crossed his arms and sat down on his chair again. "Count yourself lucky Uzumaki… we have a test together tomorrow." He inserted both kunai into his holster near his butt.

Naruto played with the kunai, spinning it around in his palm, not by the ring on its handle but by the handle itself, and then put it back on the holster on his thigh. Then he turned his gaze back to Sakura.

"What do you propose." It was a statement now a question.

"W-what?" Sakura asked in shock. "Y-your asking me."

Naruto sighed and rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to listen to what he says and he's not going to listen to what I say." He pointed in her direction. "You're the only one who can order us around."

Sakura nodded seeing the logic in his words.

"But mark my words… pinky," Naruto whispered. "If you make stupid plans, I'm going solo."

Sakura gulped. "Ok…" She closed her eyes and mentally cheered herself on. "So… I'm pretty sure this plan will work for every type of test… unless he pits us against each other. So here's the plan…"

…

Kakashi showed up at the training ground.

He saw Sasuke leaning on a tree, looking as cool as ever. Naruto was sitting on a rock nearby, staring at the approaching jounin. Sakura was pacing back and forth, whether it was from nervousness or excitement Kakashi couldn't tell. Perhaps it was both, but the Jounin cast the thoughts aside.

"You're three hours late!" Sakura screeched at him, her hands on either side of her, clenched into fists. "How are you three hours late! You said ten-"

"Sorry," Kakashi smiled. "I had to help an old lady across the street."

Sasuke got to his feet and so did Naruto. A look passed between them which made Kakashi raise his eyebrows.

It wasn't a look of hostility or anger. It was a look of mutual agreement, something resigned. The look that passed between them had no pride contained to speak of; they had agreed upon something together and they were going to respect it. They had cast aside their personal feelings and decided to work together for the good of all.

Kakashi was impressed.

Then his eyes hardened.

He hated that.

That wasn't friendship at all.

That was what shinobis did when they couldn't stand the sight of each other.

It was professionalism at its best.

They would abandon each other at the slightest sign of danger.

Kakashi hated them at that moment.

The three stood across from Kakashi. Naruto closed his eyes and pictured the clearing once more. There were trees to the left side of them, a heavy greenery that resembled a mini forest of sorts, perfect for hiding and putting traps unseen. On the right side there was a large lake with a long plain with a couple of tree stumps. The lake was pretty deep in the center as Naruto had swam in it frequently to wash himself of the dirt on his body when he had no home. It was at least fifteen feet deep in the center.

Kakashi took out two bells from his pocket. "Do you know what the test is?"

Sakura took in a sharp intake of breath.

"I only have two bells," He clipped them to his waist. "Only the two genins able to take these from me will pass." His eyes turned flat. "The one… will fail."

She looked at both of them. The plan dictated that the three work together. But now there were only two people able to pass. That changed things. Sasuke and Naruto hated each other already, if it meant helping the other one succeed they might not do it. The pink haired kunoichi looked into their eyes for any signs of change or relief.

Instead she only found hard determination.

Except, she noted, Sasuke's eyes had wavered for a slight second.

Naruto found her staring at him and nodded sending a mental message. She looked at Sasuke and the Uchiha did the same.

Sakura sighed in relief.

"Then… shall we begin?"

With those words, Sasuke and Sakura leaped for the tree on the left side, hiding themselves.

Leaving only Naruto against Kakashi.

…

"_Someone needs to be a distraction." Sakura glanced at Naruto and Sasuke. "To draw his initial attention. He needs to struggle like crazy and get him off guard or something."_

_Naruto nodded. "I'll do it." Then an arrogant smile graced his face. "Don't be surprised if I defeat him."_

…_._

"Not going after them?" Kakashi was reading the book in his hand.

Naruto shrugged. "We play by different rules."

"Hm… you overestimate yourself grasshopper." Kakashi did not take his eyes off of the book.

Naruto sprang into action.

He rushed the jounin, skipping the space across them in a split second. Kakashi's single eye widened for a split second, impressed but quickly turned emotionless again.

Naruto spun once, launching a sideways kick which Kakashi batted away with his hand. Naruto then leaned into Kakashi, punching three times with each hand in quick succession. The jounin batted each strike away with his hand, never taking his eyes off of the book. Naruto raised a single eyebrow, quickly thinking.

"_One hand eh?" _He thought. _"Then what about this?" _

He punched with both hands.

Kakashi bent low to the ground, both of his legs going behind him. He thrust out his arm in front of him, bent at the elbow as if it was in a cast. One fist struck Kakashi's elbow while the other struck the back of Kakashi's own fist. Kakashi smiled beneath his mask.

"_Pretty creative."_

Naruto's foot spun from the side, arcing downwards towards Kakashi's face in an axe kick.

Kakashi quickly backed away with his face, dodging it by millimeters. He actually felt the air from Naruto's kick brush by his nose. Kakashi's eye widened once more in shock this time. He had seen Naruto's simultaneous punch thinking that it was creative. Obviously Kakashi couldn't block both of Naruto's punches with one hand, but he had. Naruto apparently had thought ahead as far as this, adding a kick into the equation. If Kakashi didn't have a blind spot and was less used to detecting these types of things that kick would have landed. But Uzumaki Naruto's attack did not end there.

The bend of Naruto's knee caught on Kakasih's arm which was used to block the two punches.

Kakashi's eyes widened.

Naruto brought down Kakashi's arm with his leg thrusting himself forward.

Sasuke and Sakura took a deep breath in shock.

The orange book landed on the ground.

Naruto smirked.

Kakashi's arm that had blocked the initial strike had been brought down by Naruto's leg. He could have tried to block Naruto's strike with the first arm but he had a feeling that the blonde would have immediately adapted and done something else to cancel Kakashi's block. So Kakashi did the only thing reasonable which was to drop his book and use that arm to block Naruto's headbutt.

So they stood there, Kakashi with his arm on Naruto's hiate, blocking his headbutt and Naruto standing there, leaning on Kakashi using only his forehead.

"_What kind of unorthodox fighting style is this," _Kakashi glanced at his book which lay on the ground a couple of feet away. _"This is more like street fighting than the standard academy taijutsu… what's up with this kid…"_

Naruto backed up a couple of steps, taking long skipping steps.

He rubbed his hiate with his hand. _"I was hundred percent sure he was going to atleast take one hit…" _He glanced at the orange book lying on the ground a couple of feet away, feeling a fierce feeling of satisfaction well up within him. _"Ok… one more go."_

Then Naruto rushed Kakashi once more.

Kakashi readied himself.

Naruto turned his body at the last second, skidding along the ground, his right shoulder facing Kakashi. He lashed out with a kick towards Kakashi's chest. The man bat it aside. Naruto followed up by leaning in and stepping forward with the same leg, throwing a punch with each arm in succession. Kakashi batted those away as well with his palms, each time hitting Naruto's wrist. Then Naruto spun using his front leg, his leg coming from behind to strike Kakashi. Kakashi grabbed Naruto's ankle.

"Who taught you how to fight Naruto?" asked Kakashi, his eyes serious for once. What Naruto was displaying was a taijutsu skill beyond genin level, close to higher chounin and possibly even low jounin. If Naruto knew how to channel chakra into his strikes or even had greater physica strength, Kakashi was pretty sure he'd be having a lot harder time.

The blonde didn't answer. He flipped backwards, his other leg coming dangerously close to Kakashi's chin. The jounin released the genin who somersaulted backwards, landing with his feet on either side of him and one hand on the ground. Kakashi had blocked the kick by crossing his arms in front of him.

Naruto found that he was breathing hard. He narrowed his eyes.

…

"_Naruto," Sakura asked, her eyes full of concern. "Are you sure you can distract him by yourself? This is an important part of our plan... we can distract him together."_

_Naruto shook his head. "I can do it myself." _

_Sasuke glared at him. "You better keep your word… dobe."_

_Naruto's head locked onto Sasuke, facing him eye to eye. Sasuke flinched in shock at the sudden movement but managed to remain still. _

"_I always keep my word." _

…_.._

Naruto opened his eyes, noticing that he had closed them while reminiscing. Kakashi had not moved while Naruto had been remember. The blonde berated himself mentally for his mistake and as if on cue Kakashi voiced this as well.

"If this was a real battle-" Kakashi began.

Naruto lowered his body to the ground getting ready to rush his teacher once more.

Kakashi readied himself.

Naruto kicked off of the ground, sending himself hurtling towards the white haired jounin.

"_He always starts off with a kick," _thought Kakashi, staring at the blonde genin approach him with surprising speed. He readied his arm, preparing to block. _"I'll grab it."_

Naruto was right in front of Kakashi and he did not slow down at all. Naruto began to turn sideways, seemingly in slow motion to Kakashi, preparing to kick. Kakashi reached out with an arm to block Naruto's foot.

Then Naruto ducked underneath it.

Kakashi's eye widened.

"_That kick was a feint, his plan was to make me try to block him and create a blind spot by going underneath my arm."_

The bend of Naruto's knee wrapped around Kakashi's arm. Naruto used that arm as leverage, bringing him body up towards Kakashi, fist raised. Kakashi used his other arm to block the punch. Then instead of punching as Kakashi thought Naruto was doing, Naruto opened his fist and locked grips with Kakashi a wicked grin on his face. Then he brought up his other leg and put the bend of his knee on Kakashi's neck.

Naruto still had one arm free.

Naruto lurched his body backwards, his hands going for the bells on Kakashi's waist. The jounin jerked his hips backwards, keeping his torso in the same place. Naruto felt the bells touch his finger tips and bit back a curse.

"NOW!"

Sasuke and Sakura leaped out of the clearing.

"**Katon: Gokaku no Jutsu!" **(Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)Sasuke formed hand seals fom behind Kakashi and put a hand to his mouth and blew. From his mouth came an orb of fire, about eight feet in diameter, heading towards Naruto who was tangled with Kakashi.

Kakashi felt the heat approaching his back. He tried to move his hands to form hand seals only to realize that one hand was locked in grips with Naruto, and his forearm was in between Naruto's thigh and calves. Kakashi looked into the blonde's blue eyes. Naruto's hood had fallen off while he had jumped on Kakashi, revealing a long mane of blonde hair. His bangs were off of his forehead, being swept backwards from the wind caused by the heat of Sasuke's technique.

His blue eyes stared straight into Kakashi's black.

Kakashi rapidly pumped chakra into his legs, feeling the back of his chounin vest becoming hotter by the second. Then he jumped upwards, releasing the chakra he had been building up in his legs. He struggled once more to try and get Naruto off of him but it was too late.

They were in midair.

And the blonde flashed him a wicked smile.

"_Shit."_

The blonde jerked backwards once more, his remaining hand trying to grab the bells on Kkashi's waist. Kakashi freaked out and sent his hips backwards once more, getting the bells out of Naruto's reach. But the damage had been done. Kakashi had no footing and by jerking his hips back he had messed up his sense of balance. Kakashi felt his torso, already overburdened with Naruto's weight, fall forward and his body beginning to spin towards the ground. Naruto kept straining, trying to reach the bells. Kakashi couldn't move his hips back any further.

"_I've underestimated them." _Kakashi thought with shock as Naruto's fingers brushed the silver bells again and again. _"Dammit what's going on."_

Then he felt his body become heavier again.

And he felt the bells being snapped off of his waist.

Kakashi looked down with surprise to see Sakura hanging on to Naruto's single remaining hand, locking grips with the blonde with the bells in her other hand.

Kakashi had realized what had happened.

Naruto had remained to lock grips with Kakashi and disable him in either way. Even if he was a jounin Naruto knew that Kakashi had to form hand seals. Kakashi had underestimated Naruto in thinking that his taijutsu would be enough to handle the blonde. If it was a real battle Kakashi could have killed Naruto numerous times. Naruto had no chance of killing Kakashi or defeating him but that wasn't the point. Naruto didn't even need to get the bells in this case because that wasn't his mission. Naruto only needed to occupy Kakashi long enough to disable at least one arm, preventing him from using ninjutsu or genjutsu of any kind.

Then it was Sasuke's turn to use a ninjutsu powerful enough that would make Kakashi evade it, not block it. It was the perfect type of role for Sasuke who was proficient at Fire Jutsus. Kakashi couldn't block fire with his bare hands no matter how much chakra he poured into his body. Also Naruto had used Kakashi's sense of responsibility against him. Kakashi couldn't just protect himself and leave Naruto to burn, he needed to find a way to save both Naruto and himself. In that case, Naruto had almost forced Kakashi to jump.

While in mid air, Naruto jerked backwards, forcing Kakashi to lose his balance. Kakashi's body tumbled into a roll sending him into a panic. It wasn't really panic for himself, he'd fallen from higher places before but the fact that Naruto was falling head first had scared Kakashi for a second. That and the fact that they were spinning while in mid air had created numerous blind spots, not that Kakashi was paying attention to anything else. Then it was Sakura's turn. There was no way she could grab the bell while they were spinning in mid air like that, Sakura simply did not possess the ninja prowess necessary for that type of task. So Naruto had used his spare hand to grab Sakura, stabilizing her and allowing her to grab the bells.

Then Kakashi felt his arm and neck being freed from Naruto's legs.

Kakashi flipped in the air once before landing on the ground on both feet with casual dexterity.

Naruto and Sakura landed a few feet away from him. Naruto landed heavily on both feet, creating a small cloud of dust around him in every direction. Sakura landed much more gracefully.

Kakashi looked at them his eyes wide.

"So…" Naruto smirked. "We pass?"

Sakura leaped for joy and attempted to give Naruto a high five.

Naruto ignored the girl as Sasuke joined them.

Kakashi shook his head. He had underestimated these genin and paid dearly for it.

No.

He had paid dearly for underestimating Uzumaki Naruto.

He had never dreamed that he'd have lost the bells. That was an amateur mistake and something he'd never live down if it got to the ears of the other shinobi.

That was ok.

He just had to make the other jounins see how special and unique his students were.

He smiled at them.

"You pass. You will start to report here for training and missions. I'm glad to have you as a team." Kakashi turned around and heard Sakura squeal with joy.

He didn't mention that there were only two bells. Both Naruto and Sasuke knew that.

He had seen the look that passed between them. Sakura was the one who held the bells.

Naruto and Sasuke had been ready to fight each other to get the bell from Sakura.

Kakashi didn't want to ruin a perfectly good day.

He could teach them all about friendship and loyalty later.

They had the time after all.

Kakashi looked at the sky as he walked away worrying about the deep darkness that lay within Sasuke.

And even darker and deadlier still, something that scared him… the darkness that lay within Naruto.

AN: The End! I didn't reveal Naruto's true strength in this chapter. Just building it up and introducing what each of the cast is like. We'll jump right into action starting next chapter! Let's go!


	2. Wave Country

AN: Shall we start. Read and Review! I live on Reviews.

….

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!

Naruto groaned and spun sideways in his bed, slamming his fist on the alarm clock that was next to his bed. The blonde debated getting up or not then decided that he couldn't mess up his first mission with his new team. Naruto threw his blanket off of himself and rubbed his eyes, getting a bit of his blonde hair out of the way. He sat up, putting his foot on the floor and looking around at his room.

The window had been smashed long time ago by a stray rock, it was only stray because it had been aimed at Naruto and it had missed the blonde, had gone through it. The broken glass was still scattered about the floor. The blonde's stair moved from the window to his door, which was attached to the doorway only by its bottom hinge. That had happened when he was eight. Some drunkards broke in and had trashed his door in the process. Luckily they were drunk and did not bother to check the closet where Naruto hid, shivering in terror as only a terrified child could.

Naruto wasn't a child anymore.

Living in terror everyday had changed the boy.

Somewhere along the way he decided that he wasn't going to take their shit anymore. He wasn't going to be simply beaten, trampled, cursed and spat on anymore. Naruto had made a promise to himself to become powerful to protect himself. Ever since he turned ten he stopped hiding. The people came in looking for him and attempting to trash his stuff and they found him standing right there. Naruto fought as only a child could, biting, scratching and slapping. It didn't work very well. For the first couple of months Naruto was always bitten to a pulp and spat, cursed and pissed at before the invaders left.

That happened every single day.

Until one day Naruto won.

After fighting each and every single day, Naruto, who was already gifted with talents of a shinobi, was getting better at taijutsu. Not to mention he had access to kunai shuriken, something that most civilians did not bother to buy. He didn't stick to the standard taijutsu that was taught to him by the academy. It was an useless art. The taijutsu that Naruto used was quick, dirty and most of all, powerful. Naruto wasn't above grabbing some sand or glass off of the floor and throwing it in someone's eyes. His fights were life and death.

There was no room for honor when survival was concerned.

This was a point of contention between him and Kakashi. Kakashi strongly disapproved of Naruto's fighting methods. The blonde fought dirty and was persistent like a dog. He simply did not know when he was bitten. Even when beaten to the floor, Naruto would get up, his inhumane stamina kicking in, and attack the person from the back. From a strictly shinobi standpoint it was admirable and almost encouraged. But not from Konoha.

Konoha shinobi were proud and this pride stemmed from the fact that they all followed an honor code of sorts. They fought honorably and valued things such as friendship, loyalty and kindness.

When Kakashi tried to explain this to the blonde after beating him to a pulp in a training exercise, Naruto had simply cursed and threw sand in his eye, kicking him in the groin. Kakashi was caught completely by surprise and this shocked even the Uchiha and Sakura. Kakashi's hands immediately went to his eye and then to his groin. While Kakashi was falling Naruto stepped on his foot.

Kakashi lashed out with a fist that sent the blonde flying and unconscious.

Kakashi wasn't a bad man, hardly. But Naruto wouldn't understand that it wasn't characteristic of Konoha Ninja to fight in that way. Naruto couldn't get it through his head, terms of honor and friendship. The blonde told Kakashi that nothing mattered as long as he won in the end. To the jounin it was the greatest insult he could receive. It was the Fourth Hokage, who was his teacher and the blonde's father, whom had worked his whole life to make Konoha this way. Now his own son was dismissing it as foolishness, adopting a doctrine similar to the Bloody Mist of the old or some other lesser crueler villages. The jounin couldn't exactly pin this on the blonde's personality and yell at him for this either. It was simply the blonde's nature, a combination of his natural savagery and his upbringing.

The blonde put on his shoes, black sneakers that he had received from the Sandaime upon his graduation as a genin.

Naruto looked into the cracked mirror in his bathroom.

His body was riddled with scars all over. He also knew for a fact that his back was covered in scars as well.

He looked at his reflection in the mirror remembering taking his shirt off of his teammates.

…..

_Sakura gasped softly._

_Naruto turned around, glancing at her for a brief moment before seeing shock in her eyes, not admiration. He had thought that she was just happy that Sasuke took off his shirt in her presence, or that she was shocked that the boys were taking off their clothes. But the shock, the horror in her eyes combined with the fact that when her green eyes met his cerulean blue, she looked away in fear._

_Sakura couldn't believe the amount of scars on Naruto's back. Also when Naruto had turned his face to look at her for a brief moment she had seen an equal amount of scars, if not more, on his chest and stomach. There were cuts, rips and even burn scars mixed on his back. She knew what type of scars they were because it was standard academy rule to teach what type of wounds caused what types of scars. If Sakura wasn't wrong Naruto had a scar of every type on his back._

_Sasuke peered from the corner of his eyes, shocked at the amount of scars on his teammate's body._

_They weren't like the scars on his hands which were from endless amounts of training. The scars on Naruto's body was different. They were not calluses from training or scars caused by razor sharp ninja tools. The scars on his body were caused by blunt objects like sticks, blades such as pitchforks, kitchen knives or even shovels. Most of his scars consisted of burns and rips. Rips from skidding along the floor, being slammed into walls and being hit with sticks. Burns from fire, from being hit with frying pans hot with fire and-_

"_What are you two looking at?" Naruto snarled._

_Sasuke couldn't even bring up strength to argue. He simply looked away._

_Sakura just had her mouth covered._

_Kakashi watched this with his arms crossed in front of him. "Naruto," Something in his tone made the blonde look at Kakashi. "Calm down."_

_Naruto turned back to the log in front of him. Kakashi was teaching them how to channel chakra into their fists and kicks which would strengthen it. They had been at it for hours. Until one of them was able to even create a crack in it, no one would be able to leave. Sasuke and Naruto had gotten so soaked in sweat that the two had decided to take their shirts off. Naruto, more self-conscious of his body than ever before, closed his eyes and channeled his chakra into his right foot._

_He felt a warm sensation start to go down his foot, tingling from his thighs to the tips of his toes. Naruto had gotten to this point before but the trick was keeping the chakra in the foot and strengthening his muscles and not lose it as he moved it._

_Naruto thought of all the times he had been beaten and cursed at and spat on._

_He channeled that anger, feeling something dark take form within him. He imagined all the faces, all the voices, all the curses and all the smell as he was chased through dark alleys. When he was afraid to go to sleep because every night drunkards would come in and beat him. When they would say bad things about his dead parents. When they whispered things to him, calling him things like 'monster,' 'demon,' or 'freak.' Naruto channeled all those things._

_Kakashi frowned. Sasuke and Sakura were back to their own tasks ignoring Naruto who was staying completely still. So they missed the thing that Kakashi was looking at. _

_Naruto's right foot was glowing with chakra._

_Black Chakra._

_With a yell Naruto turned on his foot, bringing down his heel on the log in front of him in an axe kick._

_The log had a diameter of at least five feet. Thankfully it wasn't much taller than three or four. It was a training exercise that Kakashi had seen his rival, Maito Gai, do often in the past. Gai would beat it over and over until he could obliterate it with a single strike. This was actually done by Gai when he was a chuunin. It wasn't possible for genin, unless they were geniuses or possessed monstrous amounts of chakra for physical strength, to break it as Gai had. Kakashi didn't expect his students to break it at all. He expected a crack in it at most but was expecting nothing. He just wanted to strengthen his students and for them to get the concept of moving chakra in their body._

_But Uzumaki had obliterated it with a single strike, sending pieces of it flying in four directions. _

_Naruto was breathing hard and Kakashi blinked, wondering if the black chakra had been simply been in his imagination. The blonde was clutching his leg, glaring at nothing. Sakura stared in shock and Sasuke in shock as well. _

_Then grimacing, Sasuke went back to hitting the log._

_Naruto looked at Kakashi. "Can I go home now?"_

_Kakashi nodded. "Everyone's dismissed."_

_Sakura collapsed from where she stood, lying down. They had been at this for the last six hours, seeing the sunset and now training in total darkness._

_Kakashi smiled. "Don't worry, we'll do this again tomorrow."_

_Naruto wasn't listening. He simply put his shirt on, hiding the scars from sight again. "I'll be going then." With those words Naruto left the clearing. Sasuke picked up his clothing and left as well as well as Sakura who was pretty much the only polite one in the whole team._

_Kakashi began to walk home. "So in the end… Naruto was the one to do it…"_

…_.._

Sarutobi was working on some paperwork, his face down. In actuality, he wasn't signing things. He had an edition of the latest Icha Icha tactics hidden beneath the pile of papers. While someone from the other side of the desk would see Sarutobi smiling with age and wisdom, content with life as a man of his age should be, those who knew him better saw it as a perverted grin. Even this was taken care of as Sarutobi kept his hat tilting forward just a bit to hide his face in shadow so that whoever would come in wouldn't see his grin.

He was taking no chances.

There was a knock at his door.

The sandaime sighed. He had been expecting this.

"Come in."

The jounin who walked in had been, true to Sarutobi's guess, Hatake Kakashi. Kakashi was a talented Shinobi and newly appointed teacher of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto.

Sarutobi had debated putting the Uchiha and the Uzumaki on the same team. The decision had fallen to him to plan the teams. He didn't want to put Naruto with a bunch of talentless whelps who would most likely drop out but neither did he want to place Naruto near others like the Hyuuga or the Aburames. Finally the Hokage had decided to put Naruto with Uchiha and Haruno. A lot of other people had opinions about this, preaching words at him like 'security risk,' 'time bomb,' or 'safety threat to the precious Uchiha.' There was a simple reason for placing Naruto with the Uchiha and Hyuuga.

All three of them were alone.

With the Uchiha Massacre couple of years ago, Sasuke was the sole heir and member of the Uchiha clan. Haruno Sakura came from a clan that wasn't really known for their shinobi prowess. Sakura was an outcast because she was the first one of her family to become a shinobi. Uzumaki Naruto was alone because… well he was alone because the whole village was against him.

So he put them together hoping that the three would form bonds that were more than simply teammates.

If he knew how much Kakashi would be disappointed in Naruto and Sasuke he would not have put them together like that. His son, Asuma, had commented on a very drunk Kakashi talking about a very specific something being a disgrace to the fourth hokage. Luckily the bar's only other occupants were shinobi who already had information that Naruto was Minato's son.

Anyways, the sensei to the three was standing right across from him.

And Sarutobi had a feeling he knew what Kakashi wanted to ask of him.

"Hokage-sama," Kakashi began. "I found something wrong with Naruto's chakra."

"It's a side effect of the Kyuubi," Sarutobi didn't bother beating around the bush. "His chakra has been tainted by demonic chakra." He peered at Kakashi from underneath his mask, gauging Kakashi's reaction.

To his credit Kakashi didn't show anything in his face. But Sarutobi had spent his lifetime as a ninja, it didn't matter how strong Kakashi had become or how much he'd grown. Sarutobi was still levels above Kakashi and he could read him like a book. Sarutobi had spent the better part of his life in politics, working with people who wore smiles like clothing and changed expressions like they changed underwear. If he couldn't read a jounin in his late twenties, Sarutobi shouldn't even be Hokage.

Kakashi was curious and agitated.

"Ask away," Sarutobi waved his hand at the jounin. "I'll answer you as best as I could." Then he stapled his fingers, putting his elbows on the table before him. Then he leaned forward. "But even I don't know the full effects of the Kyuubi's influence on Naruto's chakra system."

"W-what does it mean?" Kakashi sputtered. "Is it demonic chakra?"

"I don't know." The Hokage answered. "However what I _do _know is that it's more potent and dense than regular chakra."

"You mean…"

"Chakra is used to manipulate the elements, fire, water, earth, lightning and wind. There's more if one has a special type of chakra that's able to mix and match these elements. But there's something that no one's chakra, even the bijuu's have been able to do." Explained the Sandaime. "Physical manifestation of the Chakra. And there's only one Bijuu that's been able to do it."

"The Kyuubi." Whispered Kakashi.

"Imagine Kakshi," Sarutobi's voice had gained a dangerous undertone. He wasn't simply facing this as the Hokage anymore. He was called 'the Professor' for a reason. He was both fascinated and scared of what this new chakra of Naruto's was capable of. "His chakra is capable of physical manifestation by itself, and it is not lessened by anything. Sure people could enforce steel, earth and even their bodies with chakra but his chakra…"

"It's like a Kage Bunshin technique." Kakashi muttered.

"Only possible because of the fox within Naruto." The Sandaime muttered. He looked at Kakashi reading the man once more.

Kakashi seemed to be thinking. "I'll be taking my leave then Hokage-sama." Kakashi said quietly.

Kakashi turned to leave.

"Kakashi," Sarutobi turned back to reading Icha Icha tactics but his heart wasn't in it anymore. He was thinking of the blonde now. "He's a good kid Kakashi… take care of him." Something dangerous entered his voice. "Understood?"

"Understood… Hokage-sama."

…

Kakashi came to the gate where he was supposed to find his students waiting for him to find absolute hell.

Sakura was off, sitting on a rock crying her eyes out. She had a large wound on one side of her cheek. Her bag was next to her, ripped open and all her supplies strewn across the ground. Kakashi didn't' even care that most of them were cosmetics, not shinobi gear, but he found himself getting more and more annoyed at his supposedly 'cute' little students. He found the blonde and the Uchiha fighting as if their lives depended on it.

The blonde was winning.

Naruto skidded across the ground, spinning sideways and launching a kick towards Sasuke. Sasuke crossed his arms in front of him, blocking the kick. Naruto spun once more and kicked. However this time he was much closer to Sasuke than before also instead of kicking straight forward like he did previously, his leg spun in from the side. The bend of Naruto's leg, the leg he was kicking with, hooked around Sasuke's arms which were crossed in front of him. The Uchiha couldn't resist the pull of Naruto's leg and felt his arms go down and with it his guard, leaving his face and chest exposed. Naruto continued with the spin and with his other leg, slammed his shin into the side of Sasuke's face.

Sasuke sputtered, spitting blood and skidded across the ground sideways. Naruto didn't give the Uchiha any moment to recover. He rushed him again.

"How does it feel Uchiha," Naruto whispered, his face right in front of Sasuke. "To fight me without any of your cronies around." Then he kicked Sasuke's heel, sending the Uchiha falling over backwards. Naruto reversed his momentum, punching Sasuke in the chest. At the last second Sasuke put his guard up, crossing his arms and taking the punch on his forearms instead. Sasuke fell to the ground on his back but his guard still up. Naruto didn't take his fist off of Sasuke's arm after punching him. Instead he pushed harder and fell with Sasuke. He growled at the Uchiha obviously angry.

"Both of you stop it right now."

Naruto and Sasuke barely registered the owner of the voice as their sensei and team leader, Hatake Kakashi. They just stared at each other, trying to overpower the other.

"RIGHT NOW!" Kakashi yelled.

At that the two stopped and looked at Kakashi. Naruto got off of Sasuke glaring and Sasuke sat up, glaring right back.

"What's _wrong _with you two?" Kakashi had Sakura in his arms. "What _happened _here?"

….

_Naruto sat on a rock waiting for Kakashi. _

_He glanced over at where Sasuke was sitting. Sasuke, as usual, was brooding. Sakura sat next to him, coiling her hair around one finger, eyeing the Uchia coyly. Naruto usually wasn't interested but today the Uchiha seemed to be in a fouler mood than normal. No matter how much Sakura talked or how soft her voice got, Sasuke was ignoring her. It was sad to watch from the blonde's standpoint._

"_Come on Sasuke-kun," Sakura muttered. "Don't you think the hiate looks really nice on my hair like this?" She said with a shy smile._

_Sasuke made a vague noise, varying from agreement to a groan. Naruto wondered what Sakura saw in the Uchiha. Sure the Uchiha was good looking but he never paid any amount of attention to the pink haired kunoichi. Didn't she get sick of him? Naruto wondered why she liked a guy who openly detested her so much. To him it was comparable to being nice to the villagers who for so long have openly despised him. He was beginning to wonder if she was a masochist._

_Sakura just sighed and began to look for another object to talk about or occupy her interest. She found Naruto looking at the two. For a second she wasn't sure if Naruto was looking at them or not because his eyes were covered by his bangs and from the shadow of his black hood which was kept up permanently. In Sakura's opinion Naruto looked a lot like a homeless man. He never smelled, (Naruto himself had a heightened sense of smell and could never stand himself to give off a stench) but he was almost always dirty. He looked like he only had a single pair of clothes and there were always these crusty blood stains on them if one would look closely at them. _

_Sakura didn't know a lot about Naruto. She knew that a lot of the kids hated him and bullied him. Well, not openly. A lot of the kids were afraid of Naruto. He was dead last because he skipped classes and failed all written portions of exams. However what everyone acknowledged, though they were afraid to openly say it, was that Naruto was strong. In a street fight, or a straight up one on one fight, Naruto was almost never beaten. The only person who had ever managed to beat up Naruto was Sasuke and that was only because he had a ring of kids who were on his side. Everyone, deep down inside, knew that it was not a fair victory. But a victory was always celebrated towards an openly hated figure like Naruto._

_Naruto was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't realize that Sakura was staring right back at him._

_Sakura then realized she'd been staring at Naruto and slapped her own cheek to remind herself that her heart belonged to Sasuke, not some badly clothed bum of a shinobi, no matter how strong he was. She turned back to Sasuke, smiling._

_But Sasuke was gone._

_He was standing in front of Naruto._

"_Hey dobe," Sasuke asked. "Teach me how to do that chakra exercise." _

_Sakura's eyes widened. Sasuke was the most proud and dignified kid she knew. The fact that he had stooped to asking Naruto for the chakra exercise was proof how much Sasuke wanted to get stronger. The log exercise must have bothered Sasuke immensely. _

_The blonde stared into Sasuke's onyx eyes._

"_No." He answered._

_Sasuke's eyes widened. He had just ignored his own pride and strength to stoop to the level of this beggar and he had been rejected outright._

"_Naruto!" Sakura stood up, walking over to where they were. "Sasuke-kun is asking you for a favor! You can't just say-"_

"_Shut UP!" Naruto stood up, yelling at them. "I'm SICK and TIRED of you two. One's so stuck up that he has his head up his own butt and the other is so in love that she can't even see that he detests her!" He turned to the Uchiha. "I don't care if your name is Uchiha. I don't care if you're name is actually Uzumaki. I detest you Sasuke. I will never ever teach you a technique. Ever." Then he turned to Sakura. "Stop talking to me, you weakling. Don't play ninja to fulfill your first love storyline, it's NOT a game."_

"_I'm not doing it for love!" Sakura blushed at the accusation. It was half true. She had never wanted to be a ninja, her parents had forced her. Then when she met Sasuke she decided to go after him and become a kunoichi worthy of him. "You don't know ANYTHING! And Sasuke-kun does NOT detest me!" she approached Sasuke from the back and put a hand on his arm. "Sasuke-kun say som-"_

_Sasuke elbowed her in the face, not realizing what he had been doing. He was just moving his arm to get Sakura off of him. He never even spared her a glance, he was glaring at Naruto. "Get off of me."_

_Sakura did get off of him, falling backwards and ripping her bag on the ground. There was a large welt on her face. _

_She began to cry._

_Naruto looked at her, feeling a bit of remorse for his words. "Hey… that was a bit harsh don't you think?"_

_Sasuke didn't answer._

_He punched Naruto in the face._

…_._

The five were walking together.

As punishment Kakashi had made Sasuke, who had made the first strike, to carry Sakura's bag. Naruto, as punishment, was forced to carry Kakashi's bag. Sasuke sent a look of resentment towards Sakura but it hadn't hurt the girl as much as he expected it to. She wasn't even looking at him at the moment. Naruto just bore the burden without complaint, his eyes obscured beneath his bangs.

Tazuna watched all this with a suspicious eye.

Tazuna was a fit man, though very aged, with a beard around his mouth. His hair was graying with age, but there was a healthy sheen to his skin. The man's steps were sure and strong, his skin taut and leathery from his time underneath the sun. The man was wearing a sleeveless v-neck shirt and a large backpack. He had a pointy hat on his head that kept the sun out of his eyes. He had not said much since the meeting except look between Naruto and Sasuke, the ones who had fought right in front of him and Kakashi. The jounin was in a pissed off mood and Tazuna did not want to be the one to light the fuse. Likewise he did not want to light the fuse for Sasuke or Naruto either. He had asked Sakura if she was ok. He was answered with a sniffle and a sobbing/muffled answer that he assumed was ok. She was a shinobi after all. She should be strong.

Sasuke was furious.

"_I lost… that was clearly my loss." _He shot a glance towards the blonde who was carrying the bags, an annoyed expression on his face. The Uchiha recalled when Kakashi and Naruto had fought for the first time. Kakashi seemed shocked and impressed. Naruto was definitely stronger than him in terms of simple ninjutsu.

That wasn't for lack of trying though.

Sasuke, in their previous battle, had tried desperately to gain some distance so that he could have time to form hand seals for a katon jutsu, or a bunshin jutsu or at least even the time to throw a shuriken. Instead Naruto used that damned speed of his to close in on him everytime. Even when Sasuke blocked, he used those damned leg techniques of his to somehow break through. The particularly annoying thing was that leg hook thing that Naruto did. Whenever Sasuke guarded he would simply bring his leg up and hook it in the bend of his knee, bringing it down. Sasuke knew that legs were naturally strong than arms but it still frustrated him nonetheless.

"_If only I had the Sharingan…" _Sasuke sighed and readjusted the backpacks he was carrying. He looked at Sakura and felt a sharp stab of remorse and regret. He hadn't meant to do that. It was just he was so frustrated lately. Catching cats, pulling potatoes, helping civilians move out of houses…

He glanced at Naruto again.

He had seen how people treated him for the first time.

Sasuke felt pity for the blonde when a particularly nasty event happened. Someone from the second floor splashed water on him. Sasuke and Sakura had been walking a bit behind him when it happened. Sakura had gasped and was about to run over to help him when Naruto did something that shocked both of them.

He ignored it, as if that was something that happened to him every day, and kept on walking.

Naruto's pay had been docked for the damaged items in the boxes he had been carrying.

Sasuke was lost in his thoughts when something crazy happened.

Sakura screamed.

Sasuke, acting on instant, turned around just in time to see Kakashi being ripped to pieces by chains that were wrapped around him.

The two were obviously shinobi, from Kirigakure according to their Hiate. One had unruly hair, reaching to his shoulders. The other one had straight hair coming down to his neck. Both had camouflage clothing and a long black cloak around them. But Sasuke dismissed those as useless information. The thing that he was concentrating on were the gauntlets that the two brothers wore. They had one gauntlet each and the gauntlets were connected to the other one's gauntlet by a chain. The chain was formed of steel rings, each individual ring decorated with a sharp blade on either side.

The two rushed towards them.

Sasuke rushed forward to find that Naruto had reacted at the same time he did.

They glanced at one another and reached a mutual understanding.

"_They're mine Uchiha." _Thought the Blonde.

"_I'll be the one to take them down, Uzumaki."_

Naruto reached one with the unruly hair. He had a crazed look in his eyes. The man raised his gauntlet and brought it down towards Naruto. The blonde turned sideways dodging the strike easily. When the ninja followed up with an uppercut using his bare hand Naruto turned the other way, dodging it as well. Naruto's foot spun overhead in an arc towards the man's forehead. The mist nin jerked backwards dodging the kick then stabbed towards Naruto with his gauntlet. Naruto turned sideways dodging it so that he was facing the gauntlet.

In the blink of an eye he placed his elbow on top of the gauntlet and his knee right below the gauntlet.

Naruto channeled his chakra for a brief moment.

Sakura saw Naruto's arm and leg glow with darkness.

No… it didn't glow. It was a darkness that didn't belong there. It didn't produce a dark light, it sucked up the light around it, that is how it got its existence. It didn't exist by itself, it only existed because it could suck up the light around it.

It didn't belong here.

With a loud crack of thunder the gauntlet was crushed.

The mist nin looked at Naruto, his eyes wide.

With the knee that crushed the gauntlet, Naruto kicked the ground. Using the that kick as the force, Naruto pushed his knee into the mist nin's stomach. The mist nin doubled over, grasping his stomach. Naruto backed up and did another overhead kick, his foot covered in black chakra. Naruto's heel met Meizu's head, sending it crashing to the ground rendering the shinobi unconscious.

Naruto looked over at Sasuke.

When his opponent stabbed forward with the gauntlet Sasuke grabbed it. He used it to jump sideways, on the outside of the mist nin's available view. Sasuke put his feet on the tree right behind him and pushed forcing the mist nin to fall over. Gozu struggled trying to move his gauntlet but felt the cold bite of metal against his neck. He looked to find Sasuke sitting on top of him from the side, the side of his kunai on the man's neck.

But Sasuke had not disabled his other arm.

Gozu's other arm whipped towards Sasuke's head, a kunai in his hand.

Naruto's palm met the kunai.

Sakura gasped.

The kunai stabbed through Naruto's palm, piercing clean through. However Naruto did not flinch and grabbed the hand that was grabbing the kunai. Gozu stared at what just happened with Sasuke, the latter in shock. He had a bit of blood on the side of his face, some of it splashing on him when Naruto's hand had been stabbed with the kunai.

A foot came from nowhere and kicked Gozu in the side of his neck, rendering the man unconscious. The hand holding the kunai went limp and fell. However the kunai was still stuck in Naruto's hand. The genin locked gazes with Sasuke for a bare second before walking away, taking the blade out of his hand and moving towards his backpack.

Sasuke looked up and found that it was Kakashi who had kicked Gozu.

"Good job Sasuke." There was something in Kakashi's eyes that told Sasuke that the words were heartfelt. There was pride in Kakashi's one single eye. "You can go over to Sakura and Naruto now." Kakashi grabbed Gozu and Meizu, dragging the two into the woods. "I'll be right back." He muttered.

Sasuke walked over to where Naruto and Sakura were sitting on the ground, strangely numb.

"N-Naruto," Sakura asked genuine worry and concern in her voice. "A-are you ok?"

Naruto looked at her, his eyes hidden by his blonde bangs and the shadow of his hood.

He seemed surprised by the question.

"I'm fine."

Sakura sighed and watched as Naruto began to rummage in his backpack.

"Move over," She pushed him aside, taking his bag from him. Naruto was having a difficult time opening it using his teeth and only one hand. The blonde shrugged. "What are you looking for Naruto?"

Naruto held up his hand.

"O-oh. Right." Sakura muttered rather bashful. She looked in his bag, finding some disinfectants and a roll of bandages. "Give me your hand." She told him.

Naruto obeyed.

As the kunoichi began to disinfect the rather large stab wound on Naruto's hand the four descended into silence once more.

Sasuke stood behind Naruto, watching the process.

Tazuna watched though he seemed to be deep in thought.

"Why'd you do that for me?" Sasuke suddenly asked.

Naruto looked at the Uchiha. Sakura was too absorbed in wrapping Naruto's hand in bandages.

"Do what?" Naruto asked, tilting his head quizzically.

"You know…" Sasuke looked away embarrassed for the first time in his life. He had just had his life saved by someone his age. He could have died if Naruto had not done not. It wasn't just that. Naruto could have grabbed the man's wrist or slapped it away. If he had done so, he wouldn't have suffered such a large wound. The only reason Naruto could have done this was if he had no other idea in mind. The blonde had panicked so he did the first thing that came to his mind.

That was to try and grab the blade.

"Why'd you save me?"

Naruto looked into Sasuke's eyes for a second.

There was genuine curiosity there.

Naruto thought about his answer.

"Because," He whispered. "It was the right thing to do Uchiha." He stared at Sasuke, locking gazes. "I'd do the same for Sakura too."

Sakura finished bandaging the blonde's hand and looked at him.

She had been really shocked when Naruto did the thing that he had done. The blonde had been watching the battle when he saw Sasuke topple the big man over. Then Naruto, though Sakura did not know why, ran towards the two covering the ground in an instant. She saw the man grab the kunai and before she could even warn Sasuke, the mist nin swung it towards his head. Naruto's hand was faster though and grabbed the kunai, blade first, letting it stab through his palm.

She was kind of touched that Naruto had let himself get hurt like that just to protect Sasuke.

Then he had said he'll do the same for her.

And he'd said her name.

That was the first time ever that Naruto had said her name.

Sakura smiled, glad that they had gone on this mission.

"You know Naruto," she said to him. "You're not the badass that you try to be."

Naruto looked at her, no emotion in his face.

"You're just a softie inside aren't you?" She said, smiling.

Naruto opened his mouth to say something. Sakura had a ominous feeling it was going to be something sharp that was going to ruin the mood.

Right on cue Kakashi stepped out from the woods. "Well, we're in quite a predicament."

The three genins looked at Kakashi. Sakura sighed glad that she didn't hear whatever was about to come out of the blonde's mouth next.

Kakashi turned to Tazuna. "Tazuna-san… tell me, why did you not tell us that you are being targeted by shinobi?"

Tazuna kept silent.

Kakashi nodded. "That's that then, come on kids, we're going home."

"What?" Sakura whispered. "W-why?"

"Tazuna-san here," Kakashi gestured at Tazuna. "Has only paid for a C-rank mission. However there are other country's shinobi out to assassinate him. Those two you guys just faced," Kakashi jerked a thumb towards the woods behind him. "Were famous assassins known as the demon brothers. They underestimated you guys. If they had been serious you guys would be dead. But the fact is, we're going to face other shinobi. That means this is atleast a B-rank mission. I'm not putting you guys in danger-"

"Sensei," said Sasuke. "We want to do this mission."

Kakashi looked at Sasuke. "Anyone else?"

"M-me too." Sakura piped up. "I feel like… I finally feel like we're a team."

Kakashi nodded. He had observed the thing with Naruto and Sasuke. "Is your hand ok by the way Naruto?"

Naruto lifted it up. It was covered in layers of bandages, definitely more than necessary. "I'm fine."

"What do you think about the mission?"

Naruto remained silent.

Then he turned to Tazuna.

Tazuna began to moan. "Oh my pretty daughter… and my grandson… they'll be devastated when they hear at because inhumane shinobi from konoha refused to escort me back to my house I was killed… oh my family…"

Naruto sighed.

"I keep my word." Naruto muttered. "I also… want to go on the mission."

Sasuke got a satisfied smirk on his face and looked at Kakashi. Even Sakura looked a bit hopeful at that.

"Please Sensei?" Sakura begged.

Kakashi sighed. "Fine."

They began to walk again.

"_Since when did they become so buddy buddy?" _

…

Naruto heard something rustling.

The blonde took out three shuriken and in one smooth movement threw them towards the source of the sound. Sasuke followed suit, drawing two kunais and getting ready for whatever Naruto had attacked to come rushing out at them. Sakura placed herself between Tazuna and whatever enemy they were about to encounter. Tazuna tensed, wandering what kind of shinobi was after him now.

A rabbit came out of the bush. It sniffed the ground near the groups feet and then loped away.

The four sweat dropped.

Kakashi came back from the docks where they had just gotten off. He had been negotiating the price with the boat owners. "Hey I just finished paying them." Then he looked at the expression that the three wore. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." Sakura laughed nervously, peering at Naruto. "Nothing at all."

The blonde cleared his throat. "Thought I heard something…" He muttered.

Sasuke stared at Naruto. _"So even he's not perfect." _

Kakashi turned around and began to walk. "Ok then, let's head out shall we." Once again the group of five resumed walking.

"My place is not too far from here." Tazuna explained. "After you get me there you guys are free to go." He smiled widely, flashing his teeth.

Sakura smiled proud to have accomplished her first mission. She also felt as if she got a lot closer to her teammates. Already the scene where she had been crying in front of the gates while Naruto and Sasuke fought was a distant memory to her. She glanced at Sasuke who seemed to be deep in thought. She looked at the blonde with his trademark emotionless expression. That was the difference between the two, Sakura decided. While Sasuke looked like he was brooding or deep in thought, Naruto looked as if he was empty.

She didn't think the blonde was dumb. No, it just simply looked like he didn't care or his mind wasn't there. It looked like he put an emotionless shell around himself to keep his true self hidden and away from other people.

But why?

In Sasuke's own little world, Naruto's words were ringing through out his head.

Because it was the right thing to do the blonde had said.

He would do it for Sakura too he had said.

Sasuke sighed shaking his head.

Did that mean despite Naruto's cold exterior and sharp words, he cared about them? But his words didn't say he cared about them. He said it was the right thing to do. Strangely the words the blonde said had a power of their own. It rang in Sasuke's head, seemingly striking a bell. There must be a reason why Naruto had said that. He had always found it strange why the blonde never retaliated or beat to a pulp anyone who dared to cross him, especially the civilian population. He saw how Naruto was treated. Just the other day, these kids in the academy, no older than 8, threw rocks at Naruto who was just walking down the street minding his own business.

Sasuke didn't have any illusions that Naruto hated them with a deep passion. Yet Naruto would protect them if he needed to, and give up his life for them if it was called for.

Why do that for someone he hated?

Sasuke didn't get it.

He looked at the blonde.

"_Is that where you get your strength from Uzumaki Naruto?" _Sasuke kicked a tiny rock that was in his way, seeing it hit the base of a tree and roll off. _"The desire to protect… everyone? Even people who detest you so?" _

Naruto had something else in mind entirely.

"_Dammit I'm hungry." _He felt a rumbling in his stomach and looked around, seeing if anyone else heard it. _"That was kind of embarrassing. Where's this guy's house? I wonder if he'll give us some food to eat? Eh… maybe not. He looks pretty poor. It's been days since I had a meal… I hope this mission pays out."_

Sakura saw Naruto looked around. _"Even now he's on his guard…"_

And just like that the five almost died.

"Duck!" Kakashi screamed out to his students. Naruto obeyed without a second thought, grabbing Tazuna on the way down who was too slow to react. Sasuke and Sakura ducked as well.

Something big and fast whirled over them, and Naruto felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up from the wind pressure created by it. Then with an audible thunk, Naruto saw a huge sword embed itself into the a tree.

And an absolute giant of a man landed on the blade. Despite the man sitting on it, the blade was so deeply embedded into the tree that it didn't even budge. That was how strong the owner of the sword must have thrown it, a testament to his physical strength and prowess.

The man sitting on top of it was its wielder.

He had short brown hair, cropped close to his head. He had the same hiate as the demon brothers that they had fought before, with similar clothing. His face, similar to Kakashi's sense of fashion, was covered in a mask made of bandages. The man had no eyebrows though it took them a while to realize it. He had no shirt on, showing a build that was a lot heavier than Kakashi's, comprised of muscle.

"Copy Cat Kakashi…" The man's voice was deep and gruff. He stood up, staring at them with his arms crossed across his chest. "No wonder the demon brothers failed…"

"Momochi Zabuza… Demon of the Hidden Mist…" Kakashi muttered.

"Why are we standing around talking?" Naruto stepped towards the enemy shinobi. "I'll take care of this punk."

"NO!" Something in Kakashi's voice made the genin stop.

"This one's out of your league… Naruto." Kakashi looked at Sasuke as well. "You three guard Tazuna… I'll take care of this one."

"Hmph." Naruto put his hands back into his hoodie pockets. "Whatever."

"What a cocky little piece of shit," Zabuza muttered. The air around him whirled until he disappeared out of sight and the man appeared on the ground a few feet away from Kakashi and the others. "I'll kill you first."

Kakashi raised his hiate.

"It doesn't look like this battle's something I can win without becoming serious…"

In place of an eye with a black pupil like his right one, a different type of eye was in place. It had a red pupil with a black center. There were three tomoes around it, spinning lazily. Naruto watched this with interest, not knowing what was happening. Sakura seemed to be in the same situation but she heard the sharp breath that Sasuke took and looked at him. The boy seemed to be shaking and his eyes were glued to Kakashi.

"T-the S-Sharingan…" Sasuke whispered. The only one who heard it was Sakura. "How does he… he's not an Uchiha…"

"Ah… I already get to see the famous Sharingan… I'm flattered." Zabuza muttered, hoisting the gigantic sword on top of his shoulder.

"What's the sharingan?" Sakura asked, looking at Sasuke. But the genin wasn't paying any attention to anything else but Kakashi. She looked at Naruto but the blonde didn't answer him either. He was paying attention to the battle. She saw that the blonde's eyes were concentrated on a single item but she didn't know what it was.

"It's a Doujutsu… Taijutsu, Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, one of the few Kekkai Genkai that can break through each of those techniques." Zabuza took his sword off of his shoulder and planted it on the ground, beginning to form hand seals with one hand. "The eye that Hatake Kakashi is so famous for… that he's become known throughout the world as the man who has copied over a thousand jutsus. That is the specialty of the sharingan, to memorize and copy any jutsu that the opponent uses. If a jutsu is copied once, its remembered forever."

Naruto looked at the floor, seeing the rolling clouds of mist gather around his feet. He looked around and the mist was growing thicker and blanketing the area like group of storm clouds. The blonde took his hands out of his pocket, feeling the air grow cold and with something else.

This battle was different than the ones he had been in until now.

Naruto had been in numerous life and death situations. He had been in fights with adults, kids his age and now, other ninja. But the atmosphere surrounding this battle was different. The danger was the same, the risks the same as well. If he lost, Naruto would die but the difference here was that Zabuza could kill Naruto easily.

Zabuza, was quite frankly, way above Naruto's league.

The blonde looked at his hands and found them shaking. His blue eyes widened as he looked at Sakura and Sasuke. They were shaking as well. Sakura was hugging herself, looking only at the floor trying to find some semblance of stability in the mist clouds that were growing thicker. Sasuke was gripping a kunai in one hand but he was no longer looking at Kakashi like before. His eyes were flickering all over the place, fear evident in them, looking all over the place for where Zabuza might attack from. Naruto gulped and looked at his hands again.

"_So t-this is killing intent." _

"Guys, pull yourselves together." Kakashi's voice snapped through the mist. Naruto looked up as did the other two. Kakashi's words were like a lightning rod, gathering their attentions and focusing it on one point. In Sakura and Sasuke's case it was literally a single ray of sunshine piercing through the dark clouds of fear in their mindscapes. For Naruto it was a reminder that it was no time to let his mind wonder.

"I won't let you guys die… no matter what."

Naruto closed his eyes letting himself find brief comfort in the safety and the confidence of those words. Kakashi wasn't someone to give empty words of assurance to them. He meant every word that he spoke and he believed in them.

That belief gave the three genin strength.

"Cute." Zabuza's voice rang through the mist. Kakashi looked around trying to discern which direction the demon's voice had come from but it was near impossible.

"Die."

Sasuke and Sakura felt something smack into them, knocking the breath out of them. Sakura had no idea what hit her but she let herself be carried away. Sasuke got a brief glimpse of who had hit him. Naruto jumped up into the air and kicked sideways with both legs in either direction, sending the Uchiha and the Haruno girl flying away.

Zabuza's blade swept by the ground missing both of them.

Tazuna freaked out and fell on his butt.

Zabuza was right in front of Tazuna, just having finished sweeping the ground with his blade, facing the blonde who had just saved his teammate's lives. Zabuza spun, drawing the blade behind him and raised it, slicing the air in front of him in a vertical cut. Naruto sidestepped the vertical strike but not fast enough. He felt a few strands of his hair float down. The blonde spun sideways, rushing towards Zabuza getting close to him within seconds. The genin used the momentum of his spin to launch out with a sideways kick towards the mist nin's ribs.

The mist nin's giant hands grabbed Naruto's ankle and with monstrous strength simply pushed, toppling the blonde. The usually dexterous Naruto felt his back hit the dirt and looked up.

The blade descended towards him.

Naruto stared at the descending blade, unflinching.

There was a blur and a loud clang of metal on metal.

Kakashi stood, facing Naruto, his fist raised. The metal plate on the back of his glove had blocked the descending strike though not without consequences. Naruto saw droplets of blood fall to the ground from the point of impact. Kakashi's other arm had a kunai at Zabuza's neck. Zabuza had used both arms to slice downwards towards Naruto and was glaring at the copycat ninja. If Zabuza leaned forward anymore, the kunai would have pierced his throat. Kakashi smiled at Naruto.

"Good job Naruto… you're finally starting to act like a real shinobi." He looked at Zabuza from the corner of his eye. "It's over… give up."

Zabuza's mouth curved into a smile from beneath his mask.

Then he exploded into water.

Kakashi's eyes widened. _"When did he-" _

Kakashi jumped into the air, his legs spread to either side as he felt the blade nick the bottom of his shoes. Naruto ducked underneath the slash and grabbed Tazuna, rolling away from the battle and standing up, his attention never wavering from it. Naruto watched as Kakashi tried to turn around. But Zabuza had slashed first and Kakashi's back was to him. Zabuza's sword hit the ground, and Naruto realized to his shock that the mist nin wielded it with one hand. He wasn't surprised at Zabuza's strength, no he was watching Zabuza's legs and he knew what was coming.

"Sensei!" Naruto called out but it was too late.

Zabuza, his right arm behind him holding onto the blade, used the momentum of the swing to kick with his left leg. His shin hit Kakashi's own, however Kakashi was in mid air. Kakashi' spun sideways, losing control of his fall. Then Zabuza switched grips, letting go of the sword with his right hand and grabbing it with his left. As he did he lashed out with his right leg, kicking Kakashi in the back and sending him falling to the small lake in front of them.

Kakashi felt Zabuza's kick strike his back and felt himself flying into the water before feeling the water hit him in the back.

Zabuza was already next to him, forming hand seals with one hand.

"It's too late." Zabuza muttered, to Kakashi, peering at the copycat ninja from the corner of his bloodshot eyes. **"Suiton: Suiro no Jutsu." **(Water Release: Water Prison Technique.)

"_Crap, the water's heavy." _Kakashi tried to move within the prison but felt the water weighing him down. The weight of the water had been increased by Zabuza and this technique. Kakashi felt his arm move but it felt as if he was wading through wet cement that was beginning to harden. He cursed and looked at Zabuza seeing the smug grin on his face.

Sakura observed this, growing horror on her face. She looked at Sasuke who was getting up with a grimace on his face. The Uchiha shot a brief look at the blonde full of irritation. But Naruto wasn't paying attention to them, he had his eyes glued to the two jounins. Because his eyes were covered by his bangs it was hard for her to gauge his reaction but even Naruto seemed to be worried at this new predicament. He had pursed his lips and his hands were shaking.

Naruto had just experienced the difference in strength between him and Zabuza.

"_I could have died just now…" _Naruto looked at his hand which had resumed its shaking. _"He's on a whole different level from the demon brothers… he even has Kakashi beat right now… how the hell are we supposed to get him free…"_

Zabuza formed hand seals with one hand again. The water in front of him began to clash and struggle, before it congealed into a solid form, creating an identical copy of Zabuza the sword and all. It began to approach towards them, taking one lumbering step after another.

"RUN!" Kakashi yelled out from the water sphere. "YOU CAN'T BEAT HIM." Kakashi's voice came out muffled and weirdly contorted by the water prison, the liquid which had its density increased to more than ten times the normal amount.

Naruto glanced at Tazuna. The old man looked scared and even seemed resigned in a way.

He looked at Sasuke and at Sakura.

They were looking at him.

He had to make a decision.

Would he fight against this monster who he had a snowball's chance in hell of beating?

Or would he run?

Naruto closed his eyes.

His whole entire childhood was comprised of running. Stealing a stray fish or vegetable off of a citizen's shop and running. Those had been horrifying times but now that he looked back on it, it was a simpler time. He had run away from drunkards who had come to him with frying pans, large sticks and knives. He had run away from other kids when he was younger, always being pelted by pebbles and other things. Once he had beat up a kid. The kid went home crying to his mother, who asked him if he was ok and said she'll make him his favorite food. Naruto, when he was beaten or bullied, went home and crawled into his closet hiding from the men who came at night.

He never had a friend before in his entire life.

No one ever babied him or asked him if he was ok. No one had ever protected him or cared about him. He had been a weakling who knew not a single thing about protecting one's self… or protecting other people.

He had been a coward.

He had run his whole entire life.

But hadn't he made a promise, to himself, that he'd stop running once he became a shinobi?

Naruto opened his eyes staring right at Zabuza.

He was done running.

"Sasuke, Sakura." Naruto's voice was clear and it was rid of the any doubts that he had before. His mind was clean now.

Kakashi saw the rapid change in Naruto's expression. Where his eyes were full of fear and doubt just moments before, now it was clear and full of confidence.

"Back me up." Naruto muttered. Sakura barely had any time to register what he had said before the blonde charged towards the jounin.

Zabuza looked at Kakashi in the water prison. "Your student is about to die… how does it feel to be powerless?"

Kakashi shook his head. "You don't know what you're getting in to."

The clone raised his sword to cut Naruto in two. However the blonde, though nowhere close to the clone, kicked upwards.

And sand flew through the air.

The clone grunted and lifted the sword with one hand covering his eye with the other. Naruto covered the distance in a split second and leaped towards the water clone, jumping into the air. Then he spun in the air once, bringing his heel down towards the clone in an arcing kick. However the clone had his blade up and Naruto's foot seemed to be heading straight towards it.

But Naruto's foot was covered with black chakra, resembling solid smoke which left a trail of it behind itself, in the air that it had traveled.

Naruto's foot hit the sword's edge but unlike what Zabuza had been expecting, the sword did not cut through Naruto's kick. Instead the black chakra blocked the sword's edge, acting as a shield. Naruto yelled and brought down his other leg which was also covered in black chakra. The clone, no matter how strong it was, couldn't hold the sword and the weight of the blonde with one arm. Also the blonde's strength had been increased by his chakra, which exploded upon the second strike. Naruto's kick sheared through the sword, turning it back into water and hit the clone's head dispelling it.

Zabuza's eyes widened. _"That kid's chakra… it's almost like its corporeal… that's not possible. He hadn't even manipulated its shape nor an element… it's almost like his chakra is an element unto itself…"_

Naruto landed on all fours, breathing hard.

"Who is that kid?" Zabuza asked Kakashi, suddenly urgent. "He could be useful…"

Kakashi smirked beneath his mask. "He's Uzumaki Naruto… the self proclaimed weakest, dirtiest and the most persistent ninja in the village."

Zabuza narrowed his eyes. Then he smirked.

"Hey kid."

Naruto raised his head, surprising Zabuza the clarity in his eyes.

"Nice eyes kid." Zabuza tightened the grip on his sword and raised it, pointing at Naruto with it. "How about you join me?"

Naruto scoffed.

"No chance in hell…" Naruto muttered. "I have a dream to fulfill." Then he cocked his head, a grin lightning his face. "But I'll take your sword."

Zabuza looked taken aback. "Take… my sword?"

Naruto nodded.

Zabuza laughed.

His laughter filled the clearing, loud and full of mirth. Naruto grimaced, bothered by Zabuza's reaction. He thought that he had shown enough of his skill to be taken seriously by the jounin but deep inside he knew it wasn't enough. Of course, clones were always weaker than the original, what he had defeated wasn't but a fraction of Zabuza's real strength.

But he had meant every word.

He was going to take that sword.

"Well then," Zabuza muttered once he was done laughing. Then he turned his gaze towards the genin, a new wave of killing intent emanating from him. Naruto put a finger in his collar and pulled it a bit, stretching it to allow for more air. He looked backwards wandering if Sasuke and Sakura were affected by the killing intent as much as before. They weren't, instead both of them looked at him and nodded.

"Shall we begin?" Zabuza finished.

Naruto didn't need a better cue to start.

"Now!" Naruto yelled and ran towards Zabuza, taking out a few shuriken and throwing it towards the mist jounin. Zabuza held his sword in front of him, blocking the small thrown weapons with the flat of the blade which was wide enough to cover his whole body.

"One of my most prized possessions," Sasuke muttered, taking something out of his bag. Sakura glanced at it and saw that it was a ring with a blade on it. However when Sasuke held it by the ring and flicked his wrist, the blades unfolded, revealing three additional blades. Sasuke held it across his body, looking through the ring in the center. **"Fuuma Shuriken."**

Sasuke brought the shuriken behind his body then swung, using the momentum of his whole body to send the large shuriken towards the mist ninja. The shuriken curved in the air before heading towards Zabuza, the sound of it cutting the air filling the clearing like an insects buzz.

Naruto ran towards Zabuza and when he reached the water's clearing he jumped, flipping forward and descending towards Zabuza with his heel once more, one leg slightly behind the other.

"Choose," Sasuke whispered. "My Shuriken… or Naruto's kick."

Zabuza smirked.

When the shuriken reached him Zabuza grabbed it out of the air, shocking both Sasuke and Naruto.

"_He caught it…" _Sasuke thought with shock and it was evident upon his face. Zabuza grinned with satisfaction.

Until Sasuke smiled.

What he had thought was a shadow of the Fuuma Shuriken was another Fuuma Shuriken and it cursed upwards, shooting right towards Zabuza's abdomen.

The mist jounin jumped into the air, letting the fuuma shuriken pass right below his feet. Zabuza looked a bit surprised but as he landed he got a sense of composure again. He unfolded the shuriken getting ready to throw it towards the genin. He swung it behind him his shoulders moving into motion to toss it.

Then he remembered Naruto.

"_Shit! The blonde! There's no time!" _Zabuza brought his sword up, with the blade's edge facing upwards.

But it wasn't Zabuza that Naruto's heel descended upon.

It was the water prison.

Naruto thought back to the training that he had with Kakashi when he had broken the huge log. He concentrated chakra to his heel, and perhaps for the first time, saw the tendrils of shadow covering it. The blonde was shocked at this and looked at his other leg which he was also channeling chakra to. It was also wrapped in darkness, leaving residues of itself behind like smoke when one waves a large fire around. Naruto ignored that fact, seeing the chakra flicker, pushing it into the back of his mind for later.

And his heel slammed into the water prison.

Then his second heel.

With a loud sound of water hitting water, reminding them of a waterfall, the prison broke. Zabuza, whose vision had been obscured by his own sword, looked down to see the water prison broken and immediately stopped channeling chakra into his hand. He cursed and grabbed the blade with both hands, swinging it down towards the blonde who was halfway submerged in the water.

Kakashi blocked it again, using the metal plate of his glove.

He smiled at Zabuza. "You should know my now… this one doesn't like to play fair."

Zabuza leapt away, snarling with rage. His eyes were bloodshot, red filled to the rims. Zabuza grabbed his blade and put it on his back, hoisting the blade through a belt on his back. The man began to form handseals.

"You don't know water walking yet so I'll give you a little help Naruto," Kakashi had one eye closed, the only thing he was looking the world with was his Sharingan. He kicked Naruto in the back, sending the blonde back to the shore to watch with Tazuna, Sasuke and Sakura. Naruto landed but turned around just as fast staring at the battle that was taking place before them.

"**Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu." **(Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique) said Zabuza, finishing his hand seals. The water around him began to swirl and rise, getting violent and creating whirlpools and tidal waves. Then something gigantic, almost out of a fantasy book, rose out of the water. It was a dragon formed completely of icy cold waters of the lake. It roared as it rose into the sky, before heading towards Kakashi in a downward spiral.

"**Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu." **Kakashi said at the same time. The water around him simply swirled, creating something that looked like a whirlpool. From the center of the whirlpool came a dragon of equal size with Zabuza's dragon except that his had blue eyes. The dragon roared before ascending towards Zabuza's technique, both of them clashing and sending waves of water in all direction. The meeting of the two dragons was so violent that water droplets flew into the air, creating waves large enough to hide the two shinobi from view.

Sakura covered her eyes from the falling water droplets, trying to glue her eyes to the battle.

"Dammit, stop-"

"Copying me?" Kakashi finished.

"W-what?" Zabuza's eyes widened in shock and anger, a mixture of the two. "What did you-"

"Say you stupid monkey?" Kakashi muttered. Once again both of them had begun to form hand seals at lightning speed, running along the water's surface. Zabuza's eyes widened as he looked at Kakashi's hand seals.

"_Impossible! Those are my-"_

"technique?"

"**Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" **Kakashi yelled sending a rippling ride of water towards Zabuza. As it traveled an increasing amount of distance, the tide of water seemed to gather more of its kind to itself, becoming bigger and bigger. Eventually Zabuza was facing a large wall of water that was well over twenty or even thirty feet tall. Zabuza screamed in anger. Instead of sending his technique in a straight line, he diverted his chakra to surge upwards. While Kakashi's jutsu descended downwards like a tsunami, Zabuza's technique soared into the sky as a pillar of water. The pillar hit Kakashi's technique with the same amount of chakra but there was a difference. Kakashi's technique was falling downwards, following gravity and with that additional pull his technique pierced through Zabuza's pillar and engulfed the man in ice cold water.

The aftermath of the technique was devastating. It created literal tidal waves which rose as high as ten to fifteen feet. However Kakashi had been running sideways, luring Zabuza with him, towards the center of the lake. The tidal waves diminished long before it hit the genin, only serving to soak them from head to toe but no other harm came to them.

Zabuza was launched from the center of the lake, passing right by the group of bystanders, and hitting a tree.

Kakashi rushed out of the water as well, holding a single kunai in a reverse grip.

"Time to die Zabuza." And Kakashi prepared to launch himself at the man.

Zabuza growled and moved a hand to grab the handle of his blade then stopped himself.

He hung his head.

"I… give-"

There was a sound of ripping flesh. Sakura put a hand to her mouth automatically, her face obviously horrified by the event. Sasuke breathed sharply in shock, the combination of the sound and the sight before him shocking him in ways that he did not expect. Even Naruto turned his head away from the scene before him.

Zabuza fell, three needles embedded in his neck.

"That was a pretty good fight." Said a melodious voice.

Kakashi and his team of genin looked to see another shinobi, hanging upside down from a tree. The shinobi had a mask over his face, red swirls on the bottom of the mask and four slashes on the forehead area, depicting the ninja's allegiance. He had a robe resembling a kimono, but underneath it, his sleeves and shirt resembled the design of the other kiri ninjas, long striped lines. The ninja had long hair as well, pinned up into a bun at the top.

He was twirling a senbon in his hand.

Then he landed next to Zabuza's body. "Thanks… I've been tracking this guy for awhile. You'll excuse me if I take the body?" The slender shinobi made a motion as to grab Zabuza.

Someone grabbed his arm.

"What the-" The hunter nin muttered looking at the owner of the hand.

Naruto looked right back at him, his eyes hidden by hair and shadow.

Everyone stopped.

"…would you mind releasing me?" The shinobi muttered after awhile and leaned a shoulder at his arm and Naruto's hand. "You're squeezing rather hard."

Naruto muttered something.

"What was that?"

"You had no right to do that."

The shinobi cocked his head to the side. "What?"

"He gave up… he had given up the fight." Naruto raised his head, giving the shinobi a view of his face. "He had given up. You had no right to kill him."

The shinobi reacted with violence, jerking his arm out of Naruto's grip and backhanding him across the face. Naruto dodged it by swaying his body back and with a savage snarl, headbutted the shinobi.

With a loud sound, the shinobi fell to the floor. A drop of blood fell from under the mask and Sakura saw that there was a crack on the mask.

"Naruto, enough." Kakashi ordered. "He was an enemy… that's a hunter-nin, that's his job. To kill-"

"Who decides that?" Naruto muttered.

"Who decides who dies?" Naruto gestured at the body. "He'd given up. You could have taken him alive." He turned to the shinobi sitting on the floor staring at him through that damned mask of his.

"Naruto… he's an enemy, you don't need to-"

"YES I DO NEED TO PROTECT HIM." Naruto turned facing them and then turned to Haku again. "Why'd you kill-"

Kakashi appeared behind Naruto and struck him in the back of his neck, rendering the blonde unconscious. "Sleep Naruto…"

The hunter-nin nodded and got up, dusting his clothes.

"Please excuse my student," Kakashi muttered, leaning Naruto against a tree. "He's not really… used to being a ninja yet."

"Understood." The hunter nin grabbed the body. "Since you're the one who allowed me to catch him anyways… I'll over look it." With those words the hunter nin disappeared with Zabuza's body over his shoulder.

Kakashi looked at the unconscious blonde.

"_Naruto… what are your beliefs? What are your ideals? I'm beginning to think your dream of changing Konoha into the Konoha that you dream is… may be a fool's dream."_


	3. Cursed Book

AN: Updating this fanfic a bit. If you didn't check out my other story! Naruto: Curse of the Samurai! REVIEW FOR BOTH! COMEON! WE CAN DO IT!

….

Kakashi was doing push ups with Sakura on his back.

"Sensei," Sakura was still feeling the after effects of watching Kakashi's battle against Zabuza. "Do you think I'll ever get to be as strong as you?"

"As long as you train long and hard," Kakashi said between breaths. "Nothing is impossible. You know a teacher's greatest hope is that his students surpass him."

Sakura sighed kicking her legs like a little girl but her heart wasn't in it. Kakashi noticed this but kept silence. He continued to do push ups giving the girl time to think.

"_You have to want to get stronger of your own free will," _Thought the jounin. _"Or all training is useless for you… seeing Naruto and Sasuke should have started to fan those flames for the desire to grow stronger by now." _

Sakura put a finger between her locks and ear, tucking it behind her ear and looked out the window. _"Just how long am I going to be a burden…" _

Kakashi continued to work concentrating on his own recuperation. However it was like telling himself not to think about big pink elephants. Kakashi's thought wondered to his students both of whom were training right now. Sakura had finished the training fast because she had exceptional chakra control. But Sasuke and Naruto had monstrous amounts of chakra and it was understandable that they'd have more difficulty controlling it.

Sasuke, Kakashi predicted, would most likely complete the training first. Sasuke was talented and he knew with just the right type of training he could make Sasuke into a first rate ninja. The Uchiha name had nothing to do with this. Sasuke was a hard working ninja who had talent to match it. Thanks to this he was like a well oiled machine producing results with every type of training. Kakashi estimated that Sasuke would be the one to benefit the most from this training. He took one hand off of the floor staring at his palm.

"_He has the sharingan as well… perhaps I've found someone whom I can pass on my technique to…" _

Then there was Naruto. The blonde had an explosive personality with nothing to temper it. Kakashi had a feeling Naruto was the type to get into a fight even knowing that he'd lose. It was worse because of his cold attitude which made people get pissed off at him. Kakashi didn't think Naruto cared nothing for his teammates but the blonde wasn't willing to open his heart. Whether it was because of past experiences or not, Kakashi vowed that he would fix this. The blonde's talent on the other hand might as well surpass Sasuke's.

Naruto had little to no talent in the area of genjutsu but that wasn't a problem. The boy's chakra had distinct properties two of which Kakashi was able to find out. First was the physical property. His black chakra was able to physically manifest itself. This, if it was other chakra, required either shape manipulation or elemental manipulation. Another thing that he had seen with his sharingan while watching Naruto's battle against Zabuza was that Naruto's chakra seemed to react with other people's chakra, turning it into nothing. His chakra, in a way, was anti-chakra, combining with other people's and taking it away. He only knew this because he saw it with the sharingan. Kakashi didn't know about Naruto's talent in terms of ninjutsu but his talent in Taijutsu was obvious.

Just as Kakashi began to wonder if Gai would teach Naruto a thing or two Kakashi jumped off of his back. He stopped doing push ups and sat on the floor, his legs spread out in front of him. "What's wrong Sakura?" He folded a knee and placed his hand on it.

"Oh I'm just going to see how Naruto and Sasuke are doing." She waved farewell and ran out of the living room.

Kakashi sighed. _"I wonder if they're training is going well…"_

…..

Naruto grunted as he leapt off of the tree with one foot.

The blonde growled and rubbed a hand over his hair noting the shortness. The first thing that happened to him when he woke up was being held in a headlock by Tsunami, the mom of the household. Tsunami looked rather young for her age which was a forbidden topic. She had long flowing dark blue hair that hung down to her waist. Anyways when Naruto awoke the first thing that happened was that she kidnapped him from Kakashi and his team to cut his hair. She had cropped it close to his head though it was still spiky in places.

Right now he and his teammates were trying to learn tree walking.

Kakashi after brooding on the matter decided that Zabuza was most likely not dead.

As a result now they were going through this training.

Naruto watched as the Uchiha ran up the tree about fifteen feet before scratching it with a kunai as he jumped off. The Uchiha landed on the ground with casual dexterity an shot a glance at Naruto noting Naruto's progress on the tree.

"_Damn it… he's catching up." _Sasuke grimaced and gathered a bit more chakra into his legs preparing to go at it once more.

The blonde stopped getting tired of this training. _"Damn it… I'm so tired of this. Will this really make me stronger?" _Then an interesting thought entered his head. _"I wonder what'll happen if I concentrate my chakra in my nose and ears…" _

Naruto sniffed, frowning.

"_This scent…" _He narrowed his eyes. _"I remember it." _

Naruto turned around as if to walk away from the clearing.

"Hey," Sasuke halted looking at Naruto's back. "Where do you think you're going?"

Naruto answered with a grunt and ignored the Uchiha's glare as he walked into the trees and disappeared from view.

"_Whatever." _Sasuke looked at the tree he was working on and gripped his kunai tighter. _"That's his problem." _He looked at the tree in front of him and breathed in frustration. He was advancing only little by little and it wasn't enough for him. He wondered how long it would take before he could stick to the ceiling like Sakura.

…..

Naruto walked into the trees following his nose. He narrowed his eyes the images of the hunter ninja going through his head and Kakashi's proclamation that Zabuza wasn't dead. That meant he had a score to settle. He wondered from how far away he was sensing the ninja but noticed that the scent was getting stronger steadily. He took his time and watched where he stepped making sure he didn't break any branches to alert him of his presence.

"**Careful whelp…" **A voice said inside of his head. **"He smells sinister… like that young-black-hair…" **

"_Shut up." _Naruto thought right back. _"I didn't give you permission to speak." _

"**Getting cheeky are we?" **Naruto could practically see the fox, its tongue lolling in its mouth as if lay inside its cage, its mouth stretched into a fox grin. **"I'm giving you advice so that you do not die… whelp." **

The blonde sighed and leaped onto a tree. Instead of using his chakra to stick to it, he place his feet on it and gripped onto a branch, digging in with his limbs. He closed his eyes to get a better sense of direction of where the scent was coming from. He heard the chirping of birds and the rustling of leaves as his sense of hearing heightened as well. Naruto heard the wind brush against cloth but not his own. This cloth was a lot longer than his black hoodie. A lot softer and silkier, definitely high end quality. Naruto could smell some kind of flowery shampoo.

"_What kind of guy smells like flowers… or even choose to use flowery shampoo." _

"**It's a female whelp." **The fox rumbled, setting the hair on the back of his neck on end. **"Her chakra doesn't smell right… she lies west of you. Be careful. If I'm right…" **

"I told you I can take care of myself!" snapped Naruto growling a bit. He heard amused laughter in his mind before the fox's consciousness receded. He cursed himself for ever making that deal with the devil incarnate. He was nothing but a nuisance. Though the fox had his fair share of moments in times like these Naruto grew annoyed at the fox's ramblings.

It had happened when he was nine.

…

"_Where am I?" Naruto was walking through a dark tunnel. On the ceiling on the walls and even on the floor were long pipes that lead into a bigger room. He was not sure how he knew but he knew that the direction he was walking towards was the right direction. He felt a presence waiting for him there, patient and eager. It felt as if whoever was waiting for him at the end had been waiting a long time for him._

_Naruto blocked the light with his eyes as he entered a new room. It was huge, the ceiling so high up that he couldn't see where it ended. The only thing he saw was darkness. The same for the walls of the place. The ground was covered in water that reached a little below his knees. Naruto waded through it looking at the thing in front of him in horror._

_There was a cage of huge proportions in front of him, the bars thicker than Naruto himself. On the bars were paper seals which were as large as Naruto. The blonde stared in wonder at the cage and its inhabitant._

_A giant fox._

_A giant red furred fox._

_Said fox was looking at him, its tongue lolling out of its mouth, with a sinister smile on its lips._

_Naruto knew as soon as he laid eyes on the fox that it was evil. It wasn't just a matter of having malicious intent or even hating someone. It was pure evil. It was the incarnation of everything bad in the world, wrath, gluttony, envy, greed, lust, sloth and pride all battered together to form a concoction of pure evil. It was looking at Naruto with interest and seeming patience but he could tell that it was anything but patient. It was using every ounce of self control it had just to keep itself from charging and the bars and reaching out to grab Naruto. He didn't know if the beast wanted to eat him or kill him but he knew that there was no lost love between the two._

_Or would there be ever in the future._

"_**So you finally come… I was wondering when you'd get close enough to dying for this." **__The fox spoke, its voice a deep growl. __**"It is nice to finally meet you at last… Uzumaki Naruto." **_

_Naruto gulped trying not to look like he was scared. But he was pretty sure that the shaking in his legs was a dead giveaway. "W-who are you?" The stutter was probably a giveaway too._

"_**Your Savior." **__The fox seemed to enjoy saying it, almost seeming to taste it after having said it. _

_Naruto tilted his head to the side._

_Then his eyes turned cold._

_The fox startled, taking its head off of its paws crossed in front of its chest._

"_You're mine aren't you?" Naruto held out a hand._

_The fox growled._

"_Shut up." Naruto whispered._

_The fox's eyes got wide and it stopped growling completely in shock. _

"_Your power…" The blonde began to walk towards the cage. "Since you're mine I'm assuming that even that belongs to me?" _

_The fox narrowed his eyes. __**"Is it power that you want?" **_

"_I want the power… to be able to protect myself and those who are like me." Naruto stood right in front of the cage. "can you do it… demon?" Naruto spat the word like a curse._

"_**That… completely depends on you." **__Red chakra began to leak out of the cage, whirling around Naruto's feet. The nine year old looked down. __**"Do you think you can take it?" **_

"_Get on with it." _

_The demon's eyes began to glow with excitement. What little light that revealed the fox's body disappeared submerging both the boy in a demon. Naruto closed his eyes as the bars began to lose form and saw only one source of light remaining._

_The demons red eyes staring right into Naruto's blue._

"_**My pleasure." **_

…..

Naruto opened his eye escaping from the trance of nostalgia. He surveyed the forest once more looking for the person that he was tracking. It didn't take too long. The person had moved closer while Naruto had been reminiscing and the scent was a lot stronger. He kicked off against the tree flipping once and landing on the ground. He ran towards where he was getting the scent from, practically flying across the forest.

It didn't take him long to find the hunter nin. To his surprise the demon had been right. It was a girl. The girl had flowing brown hair that hung down to the lower part of her back. She had dark eyes. She wore a pink kimono-like dress that hung down to her legs. The girl was crouched picking herbs from the ground.

But Naruto didn't miss the sudden tension in her shoulders.

"!" Naruto screamed as he leapt into the air and flipped once, bringing his heel down on the girl black chakra outlining his foot. The girl dodged easily and Naruto's foot hit the ground where she had been rummaging. The ground didn't do a silly thing like explode but the place where Naruto made contact with his heel caved inwards, creating a crater.

The girl's arms blurred and Naruto heard the sound of weapons being thrown. He crossed his palms in front of him, their movement leaving trails of black chakra behind. The black chakra acted as a shield catching all the senbon. Seeing this the girl's arm blurred once more time. There was a loud sound of metal hitting metal. The girl's eyes widened in shock.

Naruto caught the last senbon in his teeth.

He spat to the side blood and metal coming out at the same time. "Finally… I was starting to think that I was mistaken." He crouched and picked up a senbon, twirling the needle in his hand before flicking it towards her.

The girl caught the needle out of midair, gripping it in the middle. She flung it right back at Naruto, saying, "How did you know I was here?"

Naruto caught it out of the midair and stood up. "I could smell you." He narrowed his eyes and threw the needle back at her. However instead of sending it straight back he sent it whirling end over end in a vertical spin.

"Your name?" She grabbed it, impressing the blonde.

"Uzumaki Naruto." The blonde tensed getting ready to rush towards the girl.

"Haku." She cocked her head to the side. "You could tell who I am from the smell?"

"The bump on your forehead, the makeup isn't heavy enough to cover it." The blonde's feet began to leak darkness. "I owe you one from last time."

Haku narrowed her eyes. "Then why don't you come here and repay me."

Naruto didn't even say anything, launching himself towards Haku. The mist hunter-nin flipped backwards into the air sending a barrage of senbon towards the blonde. Naruto dodged each one, his speed enhanced by the black chakra on his feet. Haku stuck to the tree and began to throw needle after needle.

Naruto channeled chakra to his hands, covering his palm with darkness. He began to knock the senbon down one by one as he steadily made his way towards the tree. Haku took out a senbon in each hand preparing himself for Naruto to run up the tree and engage him.

Naruto did no such thing.

The blonde, once he was near the tree, spun and kicked the tree squarely on the trunk, his back towards the tree. Haku's eyes widened and forced more chakra as he felt the tree shake. Naruto didn't stop after one kick and this time kicked the trunk with his shin from the side.

Haku heard the sound of the trunk screaming.

Naruto yelled and kicked the tree on the same side once more and this time there was more than a groan from the tree. The tree exploded as Naruto's shadow covered leg came out through the other side. Splinters flew through the air and the tree began to topple over ripped from its lower base. Haku leaped off of the trunk before it could squash him like a bug.

Naruto appeared right in front of him.

Haku stabbed towards Naruto with the senbon in his hands while with his other he flicked his wrist throwing it towards the blonde's forehead. Naruto's face jerked upwards and caught the senbon in his teeth. Naruto dodged the stab by stepping sideways, placing Haku's forearm in between his elbow and his knee.

Then he broke it.

Haku didn't even scream and with his other arm he smacked Naruto across the face with a chakra enhanced back fist, sending Naruto flying spinning sideways. The blonde landed on the ground rolling a couple of times before somersaulting backwards and getting to his feet again, the senbon still in between his teeth like a cigarette. Haku leaped away from Naruto, one arm hanging limply.

"_He's stronger than me…" _Haku grimaced vowing not to scream as even the slightest movements sent a sharp pain up his arm. _"He's dangerous… if we were near a source of water or anything at least…" _

Naruto spun sideways bringing his torso to the ground and lifting his leg up. He caught Haku right on his Adams Apple. Haku staggered a few steps back clutching his throat with one arm. Naruto continued the spin and slammed Haku's temple with a palm strike sending the mist ninja reeling back once more. He continued with his momentum and landed a mule kick to Haku's stomach this time sending him flying away.

Haku skidded along the ground wincing with pain. _"I have to escape." _

Naruto kicked the ground flipping forward and landing a heel kick on Haku's shoulder. However the mist nin turned his torso sideways dodging the strike. When Naruto's heel hit the ground black chakra exploded outwards creating a large crater. Haku's eyes went wide.

Naruto spat the sebon.

That was his mistake.

Haku ducked underneath and brought his shoulder up to the senbons trajectory. With deadly accuracy Haku jerked forward and managed to get the senbon to dig itself into a precise pressure point on his shoulder.

The pain stopped.

Haku swung his broken arm smacking Naruto's cheek with the back of his hand.

The blonde flew back whirling end over end. He saw a tree from the corner of his eye and reached out with a foot, stomping the tree and completely reversing his momentum. He flipped once landing on both feet his arm bent at the elbow and his fists on either side of him.

The one called Haku was gone.

The Kyuubi laughed. **"Uhuhuhuhu… seems like the whelp has gotten away?" **

The blonde put his nose to the air and sniffed. Only the lingering scent of flowers remained with no direction. He looked around him and saw the various senbon scattered around the area. He glanced at the place where the shinobi had been and saw her clothing there instead.

"**She thinks fast. Looks like you have finally met your match." **

Naruto ignored the comment. _"Can you sense her?" _

There was silence for a moment where the fox's consciousness receded. When it resurfaced again it was as if a whale had broken the surface of an ocean, putting a metaphorical weight on Naruto's mind. The blonde grimaced but did not comment on it.

"**Her chakra's gone… almost. It's very faint and growing more faint by the second. She's most likely out of reach for you." **Something like enjoyment entered its voice. **"You have yet to learn how to walk on trees. There is no way you can catch up to her." **

While the fox had been talking Naruto walked over to the scattered clothing and basket containing the plants. He knelt down and rummaged around, taking a scrap of clothing and putting it to his nose. The blonde knew if anyone saw him at that moment he'd be mistaken for an outright pervert. But he ignored that thought and put the scrap of cloth back down, rummaging around her belongings. The blonde frowned finding a book hidden beneath.

The blonde opened the book.

The fox hissed.

"_What's wrong?" _He held the book in his grasp, flipping it open.

"**The book is cursed," **he muttered. **"You'd best drop it." **

Naruto rolled his eyes and looked at the pictures.

He frowned.

He flipped the pages over finding the same picture over and over again. _"What is this." _

Each page contained a picture of the human body. Each picture contained points and lines extending from those points of the body, explaining it in detail. Though each page had the same body featured as the picture it had different points outlined in the pages. Naruto began to flip the pages faster and faster seeing the points on the body vary in size and thickness as well as area. Some of them were different colors as if they were placed at a different depth. He continued to flip the pages until the fox growled within him once more.

"**It is a remnant of the past of your kind brat." **

"_Explain." _

"**In the past your ninja arts were not so refined." **The fox seemed to be uncomfortable. **"They needed a way to learn more about their anatomy… there was a clan in the far east where they studied this. Not only for medical reasons but for other rather sinister reasons as well."**

"They were studying," Naruto muttered slowly. "On ways to kill."

"**Yes," **The fox paused. **"There's more… that clan became so well versed in their arts that it is said that they ceased to be human. They were considered to be gods. They would kill with a touch… and revive with another. They had played with the powers of creation, something that no mortal could hope to play with… and remain sane." **

"What happened to the clan… and how did they conduct these researches?"

"**No one knows," **the demon continued. **"That book is most likely one of the only remaining relics of their legacy. As for how they conducted these researches… you can probably feel it by now. That book is the embodiment of lust for power, greed and the suffering of a thousand souls and more. Do you not feel them?" **

Naruto did feel them.

That scared him.

"**Since we made the contract," **the fox's voice was deceptively low. **"My senses should have been enhancing your own. Not only physical but mental as well. You are now more attune to nature... the spiritual aspect of this world."**

"_So should I just burn the book?" _Naruto narrowed his eyes and looked in the direction where Haku had left. _"And what's that girl doing with something like this?" _

"**If it could have been burned it would not be here by now," **The fox growled. **"That girl has most likely deciphered the very recent pages of the book where the language is closest to your own." **

As if to confirm this Naruto flipped to the last pages. Sure enough the language turned back into something he was familiar with again. But as he flipped back they began to warp, looking more crude yet sophisticated at the same time. He could still make out a couple of words but not whole sentences. As he got closer to the beginning it literally became gibberish to him and more of the points began to turn black.

"**It is fate that the book has ended up in your hands." **The kyuubi muttered quietly. **"It has chosen you… or so it seems. You cannot leave it here brat or some other poor soul will get sucked into its games." **

"_And I won't?" _Naruto snarled angrily.

The fox remained silent.

The blonde put the book in his pocket making sure no one else was watching.

Then he went back to where he came from to learn how to walk on trees.

….

"You're here." The Sandaime watched as his former student walked through the door.

His student was no longer the small rowdy kid that he remembered so fondly. Then again, he'd stopped being that kid long time ago. However he had still remained the set of morals, the promise that he made to himself as a kid which had dictated how his life had turned out to be.

He'd turned into a splendid Shinobi.

Sarutobi couldn't be prouder.

Jiraiya stood as a man well over six feet. He was wider than most ninjas as well. He had a large wart on his nose though it didn't make him look uglier or anything. Rather from what he knew, as Jiraiya got older he became a rather popular man. He knew how to talk and how to compliment others, not with empty words devoid of any meaning but with words that came from his heart. But that was just the type of man Jiraiya was, someone who lived according to how his heart told him to live.

"You called sensei?" Jiraiya had a large smile on his face. Though Sarutobi knew that he must have been exhausted from the trip he hid it well.

"I want you to test out something." The third hokage didn't waste any time in handing a stack of papers to the sannin. Jiraiya walked a few steps closer to the desk and took the paper from him gently, reading it over and quickly flipping each page after another.

"_What is this…" _Jiraiya looked at Sarutobi his eyes wide. "You're sure?"

The Sandaime nodded taking a drag from his pipe.

"This doesn't make any sense…" Jiraiya ran a hand over his hair feeling it bristle under his touch. "He should have died then…"

"Apparently not." The Sandaime grunted. "I think it has to do with the fact that he's a member of the Uzumaki clan… both Mito and Kushina had special types of chakra which is why they were chosen."

"Mito and Kushina's chakra kept the kyuubi's chakra in check." Jiraiya seemed to be fascinated. "Their chakra never _reacted _with it…" He flipped the paper again a few times. "His chakra…"

"It's a hundred times more dense than other people's chakra even without elemental or shape manipulation." Sarutobi summed up the paper. "Because of its density simply producing it allows it to have physical aspects. There has been other aspects as well, it specifically targets chakra, though to a minimal degree."

"It also explodes on contact with any other types of material." Said Jiraiya. "Whether it be other people's chakra, fabric, earth or anything else at all."

The man looked at the Sandaime. "Rather than call it pure chakra… it's more like an element unto itself."

Sandaime nodded.

Jiraiya finally took a seat on the chair, looking over the forms in his hand once more. "So what would you have me do?"

"Study it," the Third Hokage ordered. "I need to get me some old records of ninja from Uzushiogakure no Sato…"

Jiraiya pursed his lips. "That'll be hard… the village is gone not to mention most of their libraries were destroyed precisely because they didn't want other ninja to find their manuscripts."

"There should be some type of genealogy book left over." Sarutobi muttered. "We're not looking for sealing methods. We're looking for records of ninja who had similar chakra to Naruto in the Uzumaki clan."

"The Uzumaki clan was reputed as the ones who were the closest to the Senjuu clan, known for possessing unique types of chakra." Jiraiya cleared his throat. "Their clan was destroyed almost a century ago… I'm not sure if any records out there survived."

"I need to know." The Sandaime put down his pipe and stapled his fingers.

"Know what?"

"I do not know much about Kushina," The Sandaime began. "But I do know a bit about Mito-sama, the Kyuubi's first host."

Jiraiya listened, crossing his arms.

"Though unclear," Sarutobi took out another stack of papers and began to flip them over once more, glancing at them though he knew the contents by heart already. "It is said that being the kyuubi's first jinchuuriki granted her some unusual powers. Such abilities included a long life and an increase in sensitivity."

"Increase in sensitivity?" Jiraiya got a perverted image.

"Quit that," The Hokage snapped bringing his student back to reality. Jiraiya coughed and sat up a bit straighter in his seat. "The unique thing wasn't that she could just sense chakra but she could sense emotion as well."

Jiraiya frowned. "You mean…"

"A living lie detector, someone who could detect people not just by their chakra but by their thoughts." Sarutobi looked at the Sannin. "An ability that came as a result of the Kyuubi's chakra and her Chakra."

"It is known that most hosts gets a sense of increased senses depending on their beast." Jiraiya muttered. "There is not much data on the matter of the Jinchuuriki but I know for certain that things such as increased sense of hearing, scent and even sight might be possible."

"Yes." The Sandaime closed his eyes and nodded. "If you could get me information about other Jinchuuriki as well…"

Jiraiya stood up and turned around as if to leave then hesitated.

"Is… is he doing well?"

Sarutobi opened his eyes.

Somehow Jiraiya's shoulders seemed so much narrower by that simple question.

It looked as if he had the weight of the whole world on his shoulders.

"_You still blame yourself…" _Sarutobi shook his head. "He hasn't had the best of childhoods… but to my belief, he's been doing fine. He's… he's a bit cold but I believe placing him under Kakashi's tutelage was the right choice."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. "I would have given him to someone like Asuma…"

"But you're not the Hokage." The Sandaime interrupted. "Yet."

"I have no intention of being the Hokage." Jiraiya began to walk out.

"Jiraiya,"

The man paused.

"Don't you want to see him?"

Jiraiya hesitated before answering.

Seeing the son of his student, someone whom he considered to be his own son. Minato was an orphan and had trusted Jiraiya as if he would his own father. Jiraiya was at the age where he was more interested in polishing people who were young and seeing the next generation of Konoha. He found that talent and willingness in Minato. The two had grown close to each other as if they really had been father and son.

And Jiraiya had abandoned him.

He had abandoned his student.

He had abandoned his son.

He had abandoned the child that should have been the village Hero.

He was a coward and nothing more.

"I don't deserve to see him." Jiraiya spat those words like a curse and the Sandaime felt the self-disgust and hatred rolling off of them in waves. "If I can get the information about other Jinchuuriki and the Uzumaki clan… maybe if he can forgive me… then I'll go to him."

Jiraiya opened the door and left.

"_He still blames himself for not being able to take care of the boy." _The Sandaime sighed and looked at the ceiling. "Naruto… I wonder what you're doing now…"

….

Naruto was eating like a pig.

Tsunami, Tazuna and Inari stared surprised by the blonde's eating habits.

It had been a couple of days since they began the tree walking training. Both Sasuke and Naruto had finished to a point where it satisfied Kakashi. It was the last day before the whole team would move out to protect Tazuna on the bridge at the same time. The blonde ate whatever that he touched whether it was rice or a side dish. Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi was used to seeing the blonde's table manners. They ate their food calmly keeping their bowls close. Kakashi had already finished his meal and just sat at the table watching his students. Sakura ate sparingly thinking about the future and the success of this mission. Sasuke ate almost as fast as Naruto though not nearly as messy.

They finished the meal and Naruto slumped back in his seat, patting his stomach.

"How's training going guys?" Tazuna smiled at them happy to just have a lot of people over at his house. It had been a long time since he had guests and having three additional kids in the house gave him the false illusion of prosperity in his country.

"It seems," Kakashi drawled. "That Sakura is the most talented of the three." His single eye turned into an upside down U. "Isn't that right Sakura?"

The girl nodded glancing at her teammates. Sasuke seemed pissed off about the comment but Naruto ignored it completely looking up at the ceiling.

"Well," Tazunaa missed the Uchiha's reaction. "It's really great having strong ninja such as yourselves here to protect us until the bridge is finished."

"Yes it is." Tsunami smiled at them handing out cups of tea. "Don't you think so Inari?"

The boy wore a white hat with two blue stripes on it. He wore a beige shirt with a large round color and a overall over it. He had been sullen throughout the whole meal only taking a bite or two. His bowl in front of him was nearly full. Sakura had noticed that during the whole meal he had been glaring at the three in turn, never getting rid of that brooding light in his eyes.

"It's useless."

Sasuke looked up, his eyes filled with sudden attention. The blonde halted from looking up at the ceiling and looked at Inari instead. Even Kakashi's smile melted off of his face. Sakura gasped a little softly.

"Inari!" Tsunami immediately reprimanded him. "What are you-"

"IT'S TRUE!" Inari screamed, closing his eyes and clenching his fists. "GATO'S JUST GOING TO KILL HIM! THEY'RE JUST GOING TO END UP DEAD!"

"Inari!" Tsunami began again. "That's enough!"

"I'M JUST SAYING WHAT NEEDS TO BE-"

"Coward."

Inari turned towards Naruto. "W-what?" He whispered.

"I was the same kind as you." Naruto whispered, his voice just as low. "a Coward."

"But you know what the difference between me and you is?"

Naruto continued ignoring Inari's look.

"I never gave up."

"I never put my tail in between my legs like a defeated dog and turned over to show my belly in submission," Naruto snarled. "I never gave up even if it meant that I was bloodied and beaten. Even if it meant that I would be killed, I never gave up."

"That's the difference between me and you."

Naruto got up from his chair and left.

Inari looked down at his hands. _"G-giving up… never giving up… even if you're going to be killed…"_

Kakashi looked at the blonde's back. _"Naruto…."_

…..

Naruto was studying the book in the room.

The back of the page had to do with pressure points on a person's body. The person's body was spread apart as if it was on a dissection board, arms and legs spread wide. The genital area was void of anything. Other pages had both pictures of men and women and held different pressure points. But this one featured only one picture. Naruto read the letters and the corresponding pressure points which were surprisingly easy to memorize. He wondered if this was what the Hunter Nin had used to put Zabuza down in what Kakashi called 'fake death.'

"**You are only touching the tip of the iceberg whelp." **

Naruto narrowed his eyes. _"What do you mean?" _

"**The book is much more sinister than just 'fake death,'"** The fox commented. **"I advise you not to take it lightly." **

"_But the language as you go near the beginning of the book…" _thought Naruto.

"**That is for you to figure out." **

"I guess I'll have to visit the library back in Konoha." The blonde looked at the picture one more time before folding the book and putting it back in his shirt near his chest. He closed his eyes and lay down folding his arms above his head. He was currently not too far from Tazuna's house, laying down on the grassy area. The sun had already passed and the moon was obscured by clouds.

He heard a familiar footstep enter the clearing.

"What is it?"

Sasuke looked at the ground sheepishly. "You left so suddenly… I didn't get to ask this before."

Naruto stayed quiet listening.

"Can you fight me one more time?"

Naruto sat up looking at Sasuke with a tilt to his head. "What?"

Sasuke swallowed. "I said," he muttered getting into his stance. "fight me one more time."

Naruto pulled a knee close to his chest regarding the Uchiha. Something about him seemed different, resigned somehow. Naruto opened and closed his fist a few times starting to feel his blood boil. To him fighting wasn't entertainment or enjoyment, it was to survive and nothing else. To fight it was to kill or be killed. Naruto regarded Sasuke wondering what was going through his head.

Naruto cast out a hand and flicked his fingers a couple of times giving Sasuke the go ahead.

Sasuke didn't waste the opportunity that Naruto granted him.

He leaped backwards at the same time that Naruto seemed to lurch forward, rushing towards the Uchiha. The Rookie of the Year formed hand seals blazingly fast. Before Naruto's speed had been able to keep him from using the hand seals. But this time Naruto had started while sitting down. In normal circumstances Naruto was a lot faster but this gave Sasuke the edge he needed to use his ninjutsu.

"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!" Sasuke put a hand to his mouth and began to blow in short controlled breaths shooting out multiple fist sized balls of flame.

Naruto drew back his left foot and planted the toe on the ground a bit behind him. He pivoted using his right foot drawing a perfect semi circle on the ground in front of him.

But that wasn't all.

As he spun his left foot released black chakra in an upwards arc that flew towards the blasts of flame. The chakra washed away the flames revealing the shuriken within. The shockwave of chakra caused the fire to dissipate and washed over Sasuke as well. The Uchiha expected this and crossed his arms in front of him riding the wave and skidding backwards.

Naruto was suddenly in front of him.

Sasuke cursed inwardly. _"Shit." _

Naruto hooked Sasuke's arms with the crook of his knee and lowered his leg, lowering the Uchiha's arms as a result.

Naruto's other leg was raised into the air as soon as his hook leg touched the ground. He leaped up with it, bringing the knee of his other leg on the back of Sasuke's neck. The Uchiha reeled against the blow his torso lowering dangerously low to the ground. However Sasuke had used the moment that Naruto had lowered his arms to drew two kunai. He flicked them from behind his back sending them towards the blonde's face.

Naruto reeled back, barely dodging the pair of kunai. He used his knee on the back of Sasuke's neck to press down harder spinning over Sasuke's body and landing on the other side facing the sky.

Naruto while his torso was bent nearly nine degrees backwards brought his right arm up in a fist with only his index finger pointed towards Sasuke

The finger entered a spot near his shoulder and chest.

Sasuke spun leaping away in the opposite direction. Naruto did not give chase watching the Uchiha regain his breath. The blonde looked at where he had drawn the arc, noticing a big groove there. The technique had been something he had been working on lately. He knew that his black chakra was dense enough to not just channel in his legs but to shoot it out afterwards. Naruto had drawn the groove in the ground to help channel his chakra in the right direction. It helped to stabilize his leg and foot.

Sasuke gasped and then widened his eyes.

His right arm wasn't moving.

Rather, he couldn't feel it.

He looked at his right arm to find it hanging there limply as if it didn't belong to him. No matter how much Sasuke tried to move it, the arm simply refused to budge. He even tried to channel chakra into it but could not feel any response.

He looked at the blonde.

"_When did he learn this… that ranged attack with the chakra and now this. He's completely erased his weakness against ranged attacks…" _Sasuke gulped. _"He's gotten further away from me once more…" _

Naruto turned around. "I believe we're done here." Naruto left leaving the kneeling Uchiha looking at his hand.

Sasuke stared at the receding blonde's back until it disappeared into the darkness of the night. To Sasuke it seemed as if the shadows willingly wrapped themselves around Naruto, lapping at his entire existence as if they were hungering beasts salivating and wrapping their fangs and lips around a much wanted morsel. Sasuke knelt in the grass for a bit longer then fell on his butt, sitting down and rubbing his right arm with his left. It did not take long before intense pain began to invade his right arm. The Uchiha hissed but did not scream. He massaged his right arm gently as the waves of pain rolled off of his arm.

Kakashi plopped himself down next to Sasuke startling the young Uchiha.

"So you challenged him again." Kakashi glanced at Sasuke's arm. _"What's this?" _

Sasuke did not answer; instead he glared in the general direction of Naruto's path once more.

Kakashi allowed silence to reign, choosing not to speak and simply offer the Uchiha Progenitor his presence as a comfort.

The two sharingan wielders stayed like that next to each other.

It was a long night broken only by the sound of Sasuke's sobs.

…..

_Naruto stood in front of a cage. _

_As always the room itself was dark, the walls at the side and the ceiling shrouded in darkness. The pathway behind him was formed of pipes upon pipes upon even more pipes of carrying sizes. But the blonde did not glance back. In front of him lay the cage for his keeper, a simple tag posted on the middle of the bars. Naruto walked towards it gladly, stopping only a few distance away from it. _

_The Kyuubi opened a single eye, shining brightly with blood red pigment. _

"_**What do you wish for brat?" **_

"_Here to collect on my contract with you from years ago." Naruto muttered. "I need your help." _

_The Kyuubi raised its head with interest, raising its head a bit in interest. __**"What you want is not something I can give you… whelp." **_

_Naruto narrowed his eyes. _

_The Fox had already presumed that this day would come. Truthfully he had been surprised that the blonde had lived as long as he did. If Minato, the Fourth Hokage, had sealed the fox in anyone else, they would have died from the corrosive effects of the Kyuubi's chakra. The Yondaime had forgotten to seal half of Kyuubi's chakra within himself as he died. As a result it constantly leaked through the seal. But Naruto, as someone of the Uzumaki clan, turned out to have inherited the unique traits of his clan as well. His chakra absorbed Kyuubi's chakra as soon as the two clashed, forming some kind of hybrid between the two. It was neither evil as the Kyuubi's chakra, or pure as human chakra. It was something else._

_The Kyuubi stared at his host knowing that Naruto already knew he was lying. _

"…_**what do you have in mind… whelp?" **_

_Naruto nodded satisfied. "I need eyes like the one my teacher has." He took out a book from the folds of his clothes. They both knew it wasn't real, but it was a testament that Naruto already considered the book to be something that was a part of himself. _

"_**The book can't be read with simple eyes," **__the Kyuubi growled cocking its head to the side, regarding the book. Naruto thought he saw a hint of disgust in the demon's voice but he ignored it. _

"_**You need knowledge to go along with it." **_

_Naruto stayed silent listening. _

_The Kyuubi considered his options. He could give Naruto some form of the Sharingan but he was not sure how effective it would be. He didn't really want to explain the origin of Ninja Arts and why he could not give him the eye. Also simply giving Naruto the eyes would result in unforeseen consequences. As much as the Fox hated his captor and the world he didn't want to give Naruto a power that would give leverage over him. Judging by how Naruto's chakra had reacted with his chakra, most likely the eye would be some type of mutation between the two as well. The Kyuubi considered the cursed book in Naruto's hand. _

_The blonde couldn't see it. _

_But he could._

_The book seemed to have countless, hundreds and thousands of tiny tentacles. But if one would look closely these tentacles were actually in the form of a torso of a human. Each of them couldn't be told apart from the other. Due to the years they had spent and the torture that they had undergone through life they possessed a singularity. Now they were one, simply having two black holes for eyes and a larger one for their mouths. Their arms were rounded, either swaying with the nonexistent wind or holding their cheeks as if scared or shocked of something. There was a hollow wounding wail of a thousand souls in the air. _

_The Kyuubi hated it. _

_But he felt as this was fate… and destiny._

"_**I'll give you the eyes… and in those eyes the knowledge needed to read that… book."**__ The Kyuubi hesitated. __**"But I will lock the knowledge and only give it to you in bits and pieces." **_

_Naruto shook his head. "What's the point of-"_

"_**I have made a contract with you to give you power as an equal," **__The Kyuubi bristled. __**"Do not question me." **__He spat._

_The blonde nodded. _

"_**Then take this as a gift." **_

_Two arms, entirely too humanoid to make Naruto feel comfortable, shot out of the bars covered with red fur. Naruto instinctively tried to dodge but the hands were two fast. _

_He felt them grab his eye balls. _

_He _felt _them grab his eyes. He felt the fingers wiggle in through whatever space he had in between his skull and his round orbs. It was a feeling of perversion as if something most sacred and treasured within himself had been tainted and touched. He heard screaming in his ears and realized that it was his own. He felt the pressure within his eyes build up until he realized that the hands were squeezing. _

_He felt something pop._

…..

Naruto awoke with a start.

He looked out the window to see the sun way overhead. The blonde felt the warm air on his skin. It wasn't the cool air of the morning mixing with the heat of the sun. The heat had already overcome the coolness of moisture and was well on its way to frying everything underneath it to a crisp. Naruto rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand and it came away slick with sweat. He shook his head clearing himself of the after effects of both sleep and the horrifying dream. He put a hand to his eye multiple times to check to see if they were still there.

"_Hey Fox…" _Naruto called inside his head.

Silence reigned.

"_So you have no intention of talking to me right now." _Naruto sighed pushed the blankets aside, finding a pile of clothes next to wear he was sleeping. Instead of his black hoodie stained with blood and blue pants he found a miniature version of an ANBU's outfit minus the vest.

It was black that ended at the shoulders with gloves that came up above his elbows. There were ninja sandals with bandage like appendages that came up below his knees. The pants were long and grey, ending at his ankles and Naruto spied a roll of bandages to wrap it around his shin. He looked at the small note placed next to his clothing.

_To Naruto_

_New clothes._

_-Kakashi_

There was a little cartoon drawing of Kakashi smiling and his hands held up in the victory sign. Naruto stared at the note then crumpled it up throwing it aside to the corner of the room. He held up the shirt and put his nose to it, taking in the scent. The smell of new clothing assaulted his enhanced senses. Naruto debated not putting on the clothing then shrugged pulling the shirt over his torso.

He heard screaming as he finished bandaging up his legs.

Naruto wasted no time.

Naruto leaped out of the window, sending pieces of glass flying everywhere. He flipped in the air once before landing on the ground, already having absorbed what was happening while in midair.

Two samurais held Tsunami captive, one of them holding Tsunami by the hair.

One had bluish white hair with a black hat over his head. He seemed to have some kind of tattoo lines below his eyes. He wore a blue jacket and held a blue handled Katana. His partner was a lot larger than his partner both vertically and in terms of muscle. He wore a eye patch over his right eye and wore his hair in three elaborate topknots. He left his torso bare, wearing a big kimono. He held a sword that was longer than his teammate.

"N-Naruto!" Naruto didn't need to look behind him to know that Inari had been crying.

"Look!" The one with the hat pointed at Naruto with his sword. "A little kid playing Ninja."

"Who are they Inari?" Naruto ignored the two samurai.

"T-They're Gato's bodyguards." Inari explained while sobbing. Strangely the panic in his heart had subsided as soon as Naruto appeared. He didn't particularly like the blonde but something about him just radiated solidness. Just the fact that Naruto had spoken gave the boy a sense that everything was going to be all right.

"Take Inari and get away from here Naruto!" Tsunami muttered struggling against her captor's grip.

"Shut up!" The one with the eye patch muttered. He drew his sword handing the struggling woman over to his partner. "Hold her Zori." He licked his lips. "I'm going to chop this boy up."

"Stay back Inari," Naruto lowered his stance, bending his legs and putting one palm on the ground below his chest. His other hand went behind his back.

The blonde began to leak black chakra from his body, sending trails of black smoke into the air.

"Hey… Waraiji-" the one called Zori muttered.

Naruto moved.

The blonde covered the distance in one jump, turning around and kicking backwards with a foot. Waraji swung downwards with his sword, attempting to slice the blonde in two.

Naruto completed his spin sending an arc of black chakra at the samurai.

Waraji was lifted off of his feet as the chakra washed over his sword and his chest. It slammed him against a tree knocking the man unconscious.

Naruto landed and looked at the terrified samurai. His feet began to leak black chakra.

"S-STOP!" Zori screamed. "Don't come over here or I'll-"

Naruto appeared in front of the Samurai and stabbed him with one finger right in the shoulder. Numbness came over Zori's arm and the samurai was forced to release Tsunami who quickly went over to her son.

"You won't be able to use that arm for two hours." Naruto muttered.

His eyes widened.

"But you don't have two hours."

Naruto spun on his heel, facing backwards and launched his foot into Zori's chin launching the samurai into the air, black chakra washing the air above them.

Zori landed on the ground unconscious.

Naruto looked at Tsunami and Inari, his gaze cold.

"T-thank you." Inari muttered while Tsunami clung to him, holding the boy in her grasp.

Naruto didn't reply.

He had a place to be.

….

Sasuke clashed against the masked ninja.

"You're eyes…" Haku muttered to him, pushing his senbon against Sasuke's kunai. "They're just like mine."

Sasuke snarled and in a sudden burst of chakra pushed the mist ninja away from him. Sasuke threw his kunai immediately following up with hand seals. Haku knocked away Sasuke's kunai with the senbon in her hand and formed hand seals using the other. Sasuke noted this but did not react redoubling the speed of his hand seals.

"_Fast." _Haku doubled the speed of her own hand seals as well.

Sasuke finished his jutsu first. He put a hand to his mouth and breathed a large fireball into life firing it towards the mist ninja.

It hit Haku and exploded.

Sasuke breathed heavily looking at the remains of the fire and ash cloud that the explosion had created. Most of the ground was on fire along with a few senbons and kunai strewn about. He wiped the sweat off of his forehead considering his options. He could go back and help Sakura or he could go and help Kakashi in his battle against Zabuza. He definitely found the latter more appealing but knew deep down that he would just be a pest in that battle. He would have to survey the situation first and only jump in if there was an opening and no danger of him creating an opening for Zabuza by having Kakashi save him.

Sasuke turned around.

Senbons whistled through the air.

Sasuke rolled forward and grabbing two kunai in one hand from the holster on his thigh. He came up on one knee and turned his torso, throwing the two kunai behind him and knocking the senbons out of the air.

His eyes widened.

A thousand long needles made of water surrounded him leaving no space for escape.

"Secret Technique," Haku whispered. She rose out of a puddle of water somewhere behind Sasuke, her face downcast and mask shrouded in shadow, her posture relaxed looking like the god of death himself.

"Thousand Flying Needles of Death."

The needles sped towards the Uchiha making the air hum with their chakra. Sasuke channeled all his chakra to his legs his left hand clutched into a single hand seal to help with his concentration. The other one dipped into the holster on his thigh.

The needles exploded into water as they collided with one another at the space where Sasuke had been.

Haku somersaulted backwards as shuriken hit the ground where she had been.

Haku continued to leap away as barrages of shuriken continued to follow her, stabbing themselves into the ground. She finally flicked her wrist feeling a senbon in her grip. Instead of dodging the next shuriken missile she blocked it, sending it spinning end over end towards the side. Haku didn't stop there, she lifted her arm putting her hand behind her head and using the senbon in that hand to block the kunai that Sasuke had just tried to stab her with.

Zabuza and Kakashi were in a similar situation. Kakashi held a single kunai in each hand and had crossed themselves in front of him, blocking the monstrous blade that Zabuza favored so much. They stared at each other from behind their respective weapons their eyes meeting and getting the measure for each other's strengths.

"You're brat is pretty good," Zabuza spoke through the bandages wrapped around his mouth. "For a brat that is."

Kakashi didn't smile but a playful tone entered his voice. "Sasuke," He grunted. "Is the number one rookie of the village. Sakura is the brightest and well… I believe that Naruto is the one ninja that you won't underestimate out of all of them."

Zabuza narrowed his eyes remember the day Haku came back with a broken arm. It had set their plan back a couple of days something that had annoyed Gato greatly. Gato had badgered him in return and Zabuza had considered killing the man a few times as well.

"Oh I won't." Zabuza promised.

"Then let's pick this up before he gets here." Kakashi whispered.

As if on cue the two jounin level ninja pushed at the same time, leaping away a few feet in the opposite direction. Kakashi immediately threw both kunai towards the mist jounin. Zabuza swung his sword sideways hitting the kunai precisely on their point with the blade edge. He held up a hand seal and began to spin his sword with one hand. A humming sound began to fill the air growing louder and louder.

Kakashi found himself drawn to the noise.

A kunai embed itself in his forehead.

Kakashi spun around put out a palm as the real kunai entered it with the sound of metal entering flesh. He winced but focused on the pain attempting to block out the humming sound produced by Zabuza's sword. The mist began to roll in like rain clouds of a storm, thickening the area with heavy moisture and reduced visibility.

"_I see." _Kakashi took the mist kunai out of his palm. It was different than the standard konoha kunai. It was long but near the handle there was another protrusion forming a jagged edge. It made the kunai look a lot more sinister than others. _"By using the Hidden Mist technique he reduces visibility at the same time he starts to produce that loud humming noise which is infused with his chakra. Most ninja use hearing at the first sign of reduced visibility and by creating that noise he cancels out any enhanced hearing the opponent might have. Also by infusing the mist and sound with his chakra and killing intent he's able to create short lasting genjutsu. It shouldn't get me as long as I keep my guard up but in a constant battle like this one…"_

Kakashi felt a dozen kunai enter his head, his torso and his legs.

"Kai!" Kakashi muttered holding up two fingers in a hand seal. He ducked immediately dodging Zabuza's swing. Zabuza continued the swing, stabbing the ground with the sword and used the momentum to bring his legs into the air towards Kakashi's face.

Kakashi crossed his arms in front of him and grunted. Zabuza grinned through the bandages as his feet slammed into Kakashi's hands, one of them still housing the wound from the earlier kunai. Kakashi stifled back a scream and pushed with the hand, almost losing consciousness from the pain in his hand. Zabuza completed the spin and leaped away from the clash, spinning his sword and filling the mist with the humming noise once more.

Kakashi breathed heavily. _"Naruto… we could really use you here…" _

….

Sasuke leaned backwards dodging Haku's senbon barrage. He crossed his arms in front of him sending two kunai sailing through the air in response. Haku took out another senbon from her sleeves knocking the two away. She launched herself towards the Uchiha as he began to form hand seals.

"Fire Release," Sasuke muttered clenching his teeth.

Haku noticed something catching light near him.

"_He was preparing for this…" _

"Dragon fire." Sasuke breathed and a stream of fire seemed to catch light in front of him. Haku noticed the dozen wires tied around the shuriken and kunai that were stabbed into the ground and the supports of the bridge, surrounding him in all angles. The wires were ignited almost instantly and fire covered the wires before they converged into one big storm burning everything to a crisp.

Sasuke watched as the flames flickered along the ground, evaporating the puddles on the ground and sending up steam into the air. He felt the temperature rise from the fire technique and felt the tension leave him as he saw the area where Haku had been. The ground was blackened in a large area with some of the cement actually showing signs of melting. There was no way for Haku to have escaped it. Sasuke relaxed, feeling the rush of battle leave him.

"It's a bit too early to be relaxing…"

Sasuke leaped away, entering the ring of flames and allowing himself to be a bit singed form the flames of his own technique. He spun watching in horror.

"Don't you think?"

A giant slab of ice, far wider and taller than Sasuke or even Kakashi and Zabuza, began to rise out of the puddle on the ground behind him. It reminded Sasuke of a giant mirrors that they used to have in the house when he was a kid except it was a lot larger and colder than that.

Sasuke watched as more and more mirrors of ice began to rise around him, effectively surrounding him and creating a dome around him.

Haku entered into one of the mirrors from behind his body becoming two dimensional. Every single mirror reflected an image of the kunoichi. When she spoke it sounded as if multiple people were speaking, her voice layered and sounding demonic in a way.

"Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals." Haku whispered.

Sasuke gulped. _"I'm out of chakra…" _

"_And fresh out of tricks… Naruto…"_ Kakashi thought as Zabuza began to bombard him with both real attacks and genjutsu attacks using the mist and the humming sound as his cover.

"_Where are you?" _

AN: END! Feel free to ask any questions! I will try to answer them! Don't forget to check out my other story! Naruto: Curse of the Samurai! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!


	4. Black and Red Snow

AN: Sorry about the typos from last chapter. I know it was full of it… I apologize. It was a crappy chapter I guess. I just want you guys to review… whether it was to encourage me or to curse me out for the typos I guess. Subconsciously I mean.

Oh about all your questions a lot of you expressed concern that Naruto might be too powerful. Here are some facts that I've broken down.

Naruto just learned how to use chakra from Kakashi by entering the GeninTeam.

He had the book for a couple of weeks. He doesn't have complete mastery… as in he can't see the 'black' spots yet nor even other 'spots' at will. (This will be explained in the story.)

He does NOT have the Sharingan. He has… something else. Well I decided to make his doujutsu more versatile in terms of taijutsu instead of ninjutsu, kind of like the byakugan. So instead of viewing the eye as a separate ability I guess you can say it's part of the same set with the book.

OK! Here we go!

Btw Haku's a girl.

…

It wasn't like Haku was moving fast.

No.

It was like she was teleporting.

Sasuke kneeled on the ground on his knees acting as a pin cushion for Haku. He imagined that this was what his shuriken and kunai practice targets must have felt like. He was helpless in the face of Haku's speed. Sasuke tried to analyze the technique. The first thing that he had found out was that Haku's speed depended on the mirrors and the full effect of these ice mirrors depended on their number. The second thing that Sasuke realized was that these mirrors were immune t any type of technique he could use. He had tried fire release techniques to a barrage of kunai and shuriken. The ice was harder than steel and cold enough to avoid melting from the heat of Sasuke's fire techniques. Not only that but the mirrors had actually caused the area to start snowing as all moisture in the atmosphere was frozen over as heat continued to be sucked up by the mirrors.

The third thing that Sasuke had figured out was that the reflections were simply reflections and nothing more. When Haku rushed towards him Sasuke managed to see multiple blurs attack him. But he had figured out that it was simply a result of her speed. She didn't create clones, she was simply so fast that she left after images.

The fourth thing was that Sasuke was beginning to catch up to her speed.

Or rather than catching up to her speed, he was beginning to be able to see her movements and speed.

He had awakened the Sharingan.

Haku watched from the safety of her mirror as Sasuke looked right at her. She had noticed the change in his chakra immediately and had used their few exchanges, if they could truly be called exchanges at all since Sasuke had yet to land a single blow on her, to see what had changed about him.

Sasuke's eyes had turned from their onyx color to red. Within the red pupils lay tiny little dots of black creating an outer circle with a bigger black circle within. Spinning around the black circle were a different number of tomoe in each eye. One eye had only one tomoe while the other one held two.

Sasuke prepared himself.

Haku launched herself forward once more. However instead of engaging Sasuke in close ranged combat with the senbon in her hands she sailed above him, throwing down a barrage of senbon to the area below. To her shock, Sasuke channeled chakra to his feet, neatly dodging a couple of them but not all. A few of them entered his back making him resemble a pin cushion even more. Sasuke snarled in pain but tried to retaliate actually throwing a few shuriken towards the blur. They simply hit the mirror's surface and bounced off with a loud clang.

"_This boy," _Haku took out a few more senbon. _"Not only is he dodging my senbon at the last second but he's slowly starting to see my movements…" _

Sasuke took out a kunai and held it in reverse grip. He lowered his stance wincing as the needles in his body moved with his muscles. He gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the pain trying his best to keep his eyes on Haku's movements.

"I see," Haku muttered, her voice sounding as if multiple people were speaking at the same time. "You too, possess a bloodline limit." She crossed her arms in front of her, all of her reflections doing the same, both hands holding a senbon. "My name is Haku… of the clan known as Yuki."

"Sasuke," The Uchiha clan progenitor answered. "Of the Uchiha Clan."

"_So that's the Sharingan. No wonder he can follow my movements." _Haku began to gather chakra and saw Sasuke tense. _"I can't let this battle drag on any longer. I'll begin to run out of chakra and he'll begin to catch my movements." _

Haku narrowed her eyes behind her mask. _"I need to end this." _

Sasuke leaped away as Haku emerged from the mirror. The moment that Haku left the mirror every reflection disappeared. Before Sasuke had awakened the Sharingan he had been unable to see which mirror had been housing the real Haku. But now he was able to see her the instant that she escaped from her ice crystals thanks to his Kekkai Genkai..

Haku appeared behind him while Sasuke was still blocking a few senbon that were sailing towards him.

Sasuke's eyes widened.

"_She was actually able to outrun the speed of her senbon." _Sasuke felt a senbon enter his back and the back of his thigh. He planted his feet and spun slashing with his kunai in a wide arc.

He saw a blur disappear.

Haku appeared behind Sasuke once more.

"_She got me." _Sasuke, though he knew it was futile, flicked his hand throwing the kunai in his hand sailing into the air upwards behind him. He tried to spin once more to catch up to Haku's movements when he couldn't feel his leg.

He felt senbon enter the back of his neck, torso, arms and his legs.

Haku watched as Sasuke fell forward, the needles that were already stabbed into him from the front stabbing themselves deeper into his body. Sasuke gave one wheezing cough and stained the snow in front of him with blood. Haku saw his body jerk once as he tried to move his body. Haku ignored it taking out a senbon from her sleeve.

"I'm sorry." Haku closed her eyes steeling her emotions and her heart.

"Heh," Sasuke managed. "I guess you've been holding back on me huh?" He coughed deepening the stain of red in front of him.

Haku lurched forward clutching the senbon with both hands aiming towards the back of the Uchiha's neck.

Haku flew backwards, her mask shattered into pieces.

She skidded along the ground managing to gather chakra into her shoulder to avoid any critical damage. Haku grunted and pulled herself up to her feet, one arm holding the shoulder that she used to brunt the damage of her fall.

The blonde, clad in different clothes than last time, stood over his teammate, one feet still lingering with trails of his black chakra that he had used to kick Haku in the face.

"Nice instinct," Naruto muttered his eyes cold. "You sensed that kick rather than see it didn't you?"

Haku stepped backwards planting one foot inside the mirror.

"You won't find me as easy to defeat as last time." She entered the mirror, her body being reflected through all the mirrors once more.

Naruto's eyes glanced from left to right surveying his surroundings. His hands began to leak trails of shadow, sending them wafting up into the air.

"Fast…" Sasuke whispered as blood began to pool around his head. "Should have…" He coughed, sending a few spittle of blood onto the snow. "Stayed outside…" He finished feebly.

Naruto looked down at the Uchiha then frowned.

"_His eyes…" _He noted. _"They're the same as Kakashi-sensei's…" _

"Are you done?" whispered a voice right behind him.

Naruto reacted with immediate violence spinning around with a single vicious kick leaving an arc of blackness in the air. The foot connected solidly with the back of Haku's fist which was clenching a senbon. Haku grunted under the impact and felt her wrist strain underneath the kick's weight. With her other hand she stabbed sideways attempting to stick it in Naruto's temple.

Naruto held up the back of his own fist. Over his fist, a few centimeter away, was a flat smoky looking shield made of black chakra. The senbon stabbed into it but stopped right before actually touching Naruto's skin.

"_Fast." _Thought both Shinobi at the same time.

Naruto twisted his fist. To Haku's shock she felt the senbon being wrenched out of her grip. The blonde's black chakra acted like a physical substance. Her senbon, having stabbed into it spun with the shield of chakra. Using that moment of shock Naruto opened his palm, locking grips with the mist ninja. He quickly bit the senbon that his chakra had dragged near his face, letting it be held horizontally across his face. Naruto's other hand stabbed out with an index finger. With a sickening sound, his entire finger entered her shoulder.

Haku's eyes widened.

She spun so that she was lined with Naruto shoulder to shoulder.

But she already felt her arm, which had blocked Naruto's kick, go numb.

"_He hit my pressure point at exactly the right position," _Haku's thoughts were racing at almost the speed of light. The shock of having her own technique used against her and the fact that he had done it perfectly, even without a weapon, had sent her into mental shock. _"Even if he took my book… how did he decipher it… not to mention he's only had it a week or two at most… this boy-"_

Naruto skidded on the ground sideways so that he was face to face with the ninja once more.

"All your speed is useless," He nodded towards their locked grips. "If I have you like this."

She flicked the wrist of the hand of which they had locked grips.

Two senbon launched out of her sleeve shocking the blonde. He turned his head sideways and spat the senbon in his mouth and reached out with his other hand. His senbon knocked one away but his hand was too late in grabbing the other remaining senbon.

The senbon entered the space between his arm and shoulder.

Naruto's arm went limp and so did his hand. Haku leaped away from him entering one of the mirrors. Naruto's other hand immediately took out the senbon with a sickening wrench. Then to Haku's horror and shock he pointed towards himself with his index finger, stabbing himself in the shoulder with the sound of skin entering skin.

He shook both arms as if to get the numbness out.

"Impressive," Haku held the shoulder of her numb arm. "Even I haven't mastered that aspect of the book yet."

"_Not only does he know how to induce paralysis," _thought Haku. _"He knows how to get rid of them. But I doubt he knows any other points to induce fake death or pain yet. Even if he can see them, the points of fake death and sleep are too difficult for him to hit. I don't have to worry about that yet. But paralyzing him will be useless since he knows how to counter it." _

Naruto didn't answer.

Instead he brought his left leg back stabbing the ground with the tip of his toe.

Black chakra began to leak out from that single point, almost engulfing the blonde in shadow.

Haku saw his eyes.

She shivered.

His blue eyes had changed.

It had turned light from the rich blue from before. It almost resembled the color of her ice mirrors. She watched as it began to grow lighter and lighter stopping at a shade of blue right before it changed into white. It looked exactly like the sharingan except it had a blue pupil. Instead of the tomoes it had triangles made of a darker shade of blue spinning lazily while rotating at the same time. The blonde had two triangles in both eyes.

Haku hesitated.

"_They're not the sharingan but… w-what are they…" _

Naruto roared and kicked with his foot, leaving a long groove in the ground. When the kick finally escaped the ground it became a blur. The only thing Haku saw was Naruto creating the semi circle groove in the ground then his feet blurring. The next thing she saw was Naruto standing on his right foot, his left leg straight and held sideways so that it covered his right shoulder.

And the large arc of black chakra flying towards her.

Haku unconsciously crossed her arms in front of her chest even though she was within the mirror. She closed her eyes instinctively as the black chakra wave washed over the mirror. She felt the mirror shake from inside from the pressure of the chakra explosion but enforced it with her chakra forcing it to hold its shape.

Naruto watched as the shadow arc was washed away from the mirror, leaving it as it was before.

"_I'm going to need to do a physical attack." _Naruto tensed his legs.

"Are you an Uchiha as well?" Haku asked gathering chakra and trying to buy time to think up of a strategy.

Naruto shook his head. "No… He unconsciously held up a hand to his eyes.

He saw things differently now.

He knew that his eye had changed when his vision changed.

He saw the flow of chakra in battle and within Haku's body. He saw Haku's chakra flow into her arms and her legs as it began to concentrate there. Naruto looked around him, seeing some fog looking substances which he now knew as chakra. Some of them were the same color as Sasuke's chakra and others were the same color as Haku's chakra. He saw black chakra that was his own.

But more importantly…

He saw the points that had been outlined in the book.

But not always.

The points seemed to disappear and reappear depending on how Haku was standing and how she held herself. Sometimes there were more points on her body than before. Some points were large, some were small. The points also varied in color. The smallest points turned black but when they turned big again they seemed to turn into a greenish color. He had read enough of the book to know that black points represented death. But the points were painfully small and almost always at a naturally vital spot. If he forced himself to press that point he'd leave a huge opening of himself. He remembered what the color of the points meant from reading the book. Green points were points that would heal the person. Blue points resulted in numbness or paralysis of the muscle or chakra. Red points represented pain and damage. Yellow points represented sleep.

He could see them all, though not at the same time. As stated, the points that were available switched each second depending on the miniscule movements of the opponent's body.

Haku watched as the triangles in Naruto's eyes began to spin faster and faster, rotating faster and faster as well. They rotated so fast that they seemed to be circles instead of triangles creating a ring around the center of his eye.

Haku leaped out of her ice mirror.

Naruto leaped back as Haku stabbed towards him with a fist, senbon held between her knuckles pointed outwards. He kicked backwards as Haku disappeared from his vision. Haku leaned back allowing the tip of Naruto's heel, trailing black chakra, to pass by inches away from her chin. She punched upwards attempting to sink the senbon into Naruto's shin which was still in the air. Instead Naruto extended his foot allowing the tip of his toe to touch the top of Haku's head in a downwards kick.

Haku reacted with deadly speed skidding along the ground sideways appearing in front of Naruto, her legs spread to either side and her torso low to the ground. Naruto's foot slammed into the ground creating a large crater and shaking the ground. Haku placed the bottom of her fist on the ground to steady herself and swung her torso swinging her useless arm towards Naruto's single leg which had been supporting him.

Naruto brought his other leg up, bending it at the knee and blocked the strike.

However Haku's speed combined with the fact that her arm was numb allowed her to crush through Naruto's chakra enhanced guard and to his other leg, sending Naruto toppling towards the side off of his legs.

Naruto placed a palm on the ground sending a small shockwave of black chakra from the impact. He kicked sideways with his leg, which for him, was upwards. Haku leaped up into the air dodging the kick. Naruto continued the momentum of the kick, flipping backwards and onto both feet once more one palm on the ground. Haku landed on the ground a few feet away from Naruto and leaped backwards towards the safety of her mirrors once more.

Naruto launched himself at the mirror flipping forward and bringing his feel down on the mirror.

The mirror shattered to pieces.

Haku exited the mirror right before it was shattered with surprising speed, sending a few barrage towards Naruto who was in mid air. Naruto arched his back as they entered a few spots in his back. The blonde landed on the ground and spun immediately his feet skidding along the ground. Haku landed a few feet away, turning to face Naruto immediately and skidded on the ground backwards, one of her arms still hanging down limply.

Haku flicked her wrist, her sleeve pointed towards the blonde once more sending a few senbon flying his way.

Naruto batted them to the side with his palms trailing black chakra turning to the side so that his shoulder faced Haku.

Haku appeared right in front of him.

Naruto was facing towards the right.

Haku swung her limp arm again, using the numbness to her advantage to swing as fast as she could.

Naruto leaned to his right lifting his left leg up into the air bent at the knee. Haku swung so hard that her limp arm had gone all the way to the left side of Naruto, the direction which the sole of his left foot was facing.

"_I got her." _Thought Naruto.

Naruto lurched back towards the left and with his left leg, hooked the bend of his knee on Haku's arm right before her shoulder. Continuing with his momentum Naruto continued his spin and brought his right leg up, bent at the knee.

He hit the back of Haku's head hearing a satisfying crunch.

Naruto landed on his left leg his right leg still raised in the air both of them bent at the knee. Haku was falling towards the ground face first. Naruto kicked with his right leg straightening it and placing the bottom of his right foot straight into Haku's chin sending the kunoichi straight up into the air, her body completely straight.

Naruto stood up, this time facing the left and crossed his arms in front of him.

He glanced with his eyes at Haku who was airborne.

Her whole body was riddled with points of red.

Then with his right leg, with a tornado of black chakra that was spinning around it, he stomped the ground where Haku had been standing.

A pillar of black chakra exploded out of the ground, perfectly round.

Haku couldn't even scream as the tower of shadow engulfed her and with it pain completely swallowed her mind. The black chakra seemed to be digging into her skin and exploding from the inside by reacting with her chakra. She arced her back and began to jerk sporadically before the technique finished its course sending her towards the ground face first.

Naruto raised his leg, right when Haku's head was at his eye level.

Then he slammed his heel onto the back of the kunoichi's head sending her falling even faster towards the ground.

The crunching sound of her nose breaking was accompanied by the cacophony of all her ice mirrors shattering all at once.

Haku landed on the ground, her clothing ripped and frayed in various places. Her vision shook and when they focused they showed her skin. Although it had felt as if the black chakra had dug into her and exploded from the inside out, her skin only showed superficial damage, covered in cuts and burns. She groaned and tried to get up when her vision shook once more.

Naruto turned around.

Haku began to cry filling the air with her sobs.

"You did well," Naruto muttered. Haku looked up and saw the blonde's legs shaking with fatigue.

"But the things we fight for are different."

"HOW?" Haku screamed, allowing blood to spill out of her mouth. She coughed like Sasuke had moments before.

"I fight to protect my precious person," Haku shuddered gasping for breath. "How is that any different than you fighting for yours?"

Naruto turned his head giving her a gaze at his clear blue eyes. The triangles were rotating and spinning a bit slower now, giving her a full view of them.

"I fight so that I may become Hokage," Naruto whispered. "So that I can change my village…"

"I fight to protect all those who are weak." He narrowed his eyes.

"I fight so that no one has to live the life that I had to live." He turned around once more and walked away leaving Haku speechless.

"I protect everyone in this world that is beaten, tortured and spat on just for the reason that they are different."

"I fight to protect my dreams of a fair and just world…" continued Naruto as the mist began to clear. "You fight to protect the twisted dream of a twisted man… that is the difference between your dream and mine."

"If you have time to cry," Naruto muttered walking away. "Consider what you yourself can do… instead of relying on your master to change Kirigakure no Sato and putting all your hopes in him, become Mizukage and change the village."

"And if you want revenge," Naruto whispered, turning his head a fraction to give Haku the view to his eyes. "I'll be waiting."

Haku felt tears stream down her cheeks as darkness began to creep in from the edge of her vision. _"Zabuza-san… I've failed… I'm sorry…" _

The last thing she heard before she lost consciousness was Naruto's footsteps steadily growing quieter.

…

Kakashi wrenched his hand out of Zabuza's chest as his ninja dogs disappeared accompanied by puffs of smoke.

The one eyed ninja looked down at the jounin. _"Momochi Zabuza… This was truly a tough battle." _The mist began to clear as the chakra that enforced it disappeared. _"I will remember your name for as long as I live." _

"Sasuke!" he heard Sakura scream.

Kakashi turned to see Sakura run past him running towards where he had seen Sasuke and the girl called Haku leap off to do their own battle. The jounin saw Naruto walk past the pink haired kunoichi, ignoring him completely. Kakashi saw Haku lying on the ground around where Sasuke was. Haku looked to be completely drained of all energy in her body. Kakashi was able to make out the slow rise and fall of Sasuke's body meaning that the boy was still alive, albeit not conscious anymore.

Naruto walked up to Kakashi. "You should check on Sasuke. He's damaged pretty badly." As he said this the blonde reached behind him and began to take out the senbon out of him with a savagery that surprised Kakashi.

"I want to." Kakashi muttered then turned around. "But it looks as if they won't let us."

"Those useless ninja." Gato muttered holding his staff by both his hands. Naruto watched as the crowd of mercenaries behind Gato began to grow larger by the second.

"You useless pieces of shit. I knew you'd fail." A mocking tone entered his voice. "That's why I decided to just do this myself! I don't need ninja or the citizens of country at all! I'll just kill everyone and take over this country myself!"

Naruto lowered his stance

Kakashi prepared himself as well.

They heard a wet cough behind them.

"_What the…" _Naruto turned around to see a demon standing behind him.

Momochi Zabuza, with a hole in the right side of his chest, despite all the blood that was pouring down his abdomen and face, despite the bandages on his body completely soaked through with blood, was standing holding his Kubikiri Buchou with one hand the other hand hanging limply at his side.

"This is my mess," He whispered, his voice barely audible. "I'll be cleaning up here."

…..

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura held the unconscious Uchiha to her chest, cradling him on her knees. "No…. no… Sasuke-kun… no…"

Tazuna watched the girl cry holding her first love.

"_So is this what it means to be a ninja?" _He looked at Sasuke's face. Though his body was riddled with needles to Tazuna it didn't look any different from the boy's sleeping posture and face. He turned away closing his eyes. _"It's too cruel… to die at such an age. To make children go through this type of life… it's too cruel." _

"Sakura… I'm alive…"

"Sa-Sasuke-kun?" Sakura wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. "Y-You're alive!" Sasuke-kun!"

"_Naruto… I saw the whole battle… just who are you…" _

…

Naruto spun around as black chakra began to leak out of his body. He tensed getting ready to rush at the demon in front of him.

Kakashi gripped Naruto's shoulder. "It's done Naruto."

Naruto tilted his head quizzically.

"Gato's broken our contract," Zabuza rasped. "I have no reason to continue fighting with you anymore."

Naruto relaxed underneath Kakashi's grasp. He looked at the older man's eye. Kakashi traded a look with his teacher. Kakashi realized that Naruto could tell that Zabza was already dead.

He was just extending his life through sheer will.

"Hey kid," Zabuza asked blinking rapidly as if trying to keep himself awake. "Is… is Haku dead?"

"No." Naruto whispered. "She's alive."

Zabuza glanced at the blonde genin. _"There's no way he could have gotten out of the demonic mirror technique without defeating Haku first. The other kid's not here… his chakra ceased to be active long time ago. He must have defeated Haku in a one on one battle… not bad." _

"Tell her," Zabuza coughed, hefting the sword up to his shoulder. Zabuza hesitated thinking of what to say.

"Tell her that I loved her like my own daughter," Zabuza hung his head, shadows shrouding his expression.

Naruto thought he saw something fall.

"And that I'll always be watching over her."

The blonde looked at the floor. "I got it." He answered back, his voice low.

Zabuza rushed into action.

He appeared in front of Gato, his body lowered to the ground and the Kubikiri Buchou being dragged on the ground.

"Hey Gato," Zabuza's face was right in front of the corporate tycoon, his eyes absolutely bloodshot and hungry for death.

Gato thought he saw an apparition resembling a horned demon's face, its jaws wide open in a mocking grin behind the man.

"Let's have a long nice talk about the terms of our contract in hell together," Zabuza raised the sword over his head to cleave the man in half. "Shall we?"

"K-KILL HIM!" Gato screamed, trying to back away. "D-DOUBLE, NO TEN TIMES THE PAYMENT FOR WHOEVER-"

Zabuza cut the man in two, showering the area with blood.

Zabuza looked up, his body bent in half, blood covering his face as the rain of blood from Gato's body left droplets on everyone there. "I'll be cleaning you guys up as a service as well…"

Zabuza rushed forward like a demon, wielding his monstrous sword with one hand. The mercenaries stabbed him, cut him and even tried to push him down but the man did not cease to attack. He continued to attack, his skin turning redder and wetter as blood began to cover him from head to toe. He continued to mow the enemies down like grass ignoring the dozens of weapons stabbed into his back. Somewhere along the way the bandages wrapped around Zabuza's mouth came undone and Naruto saw the man clenching his blood red teeth in a feral snarl.

He seemed to be laughing as he danced among the carnage and the blood.

Naruto activated his doujutsu while Kakashi wasn't looking at him.

The man's whole body was black in his eyes.

Naruto growled and deactivated his doujutsu, looking away.

"Do not look away," Kakashi admonished him. "There is a man who has lived a difficult life… and dies as a true shinobi should."

The blonde forced himself to watch.

"Hey sensei," The boy asked his voice low.

Kakashi waited.

"If I become as strong as him," Naruto watched as Zabuza cut down the last of his opponents, standing there covered in blood and gore from head to toe. Zabuza looked up at the sky and Naruto saw the man's shoulder shake with either laughter or silent sobs.

"Will I have to lay aside my principles as well?"

Kakashi looked at his student.

"That's for you to decide."

Zabuza finally fell down, lying in a pool of blood that was both his own and that was not.

He fell staring at the sky as snow began to fall from the sky.

"_Haku…" _He turned his head sideways as a single snow piece fell on the tip of his finger. _"I'll be watching over you… I promise." _

…Two Weeks Later…

"Naruto!" Sakura's voice called out from somewhere behind him. "It's time to go."

Naruto ignored her staring at the single grave in front of him.

It was a simple grave, made from two piece of wood fashioned into a cross. Right behind the cross stood a large tree, bigger than any tree that Naruto had seen in the country. The tree was placed right next to the entrance to the bridge that Tazuna had finished. He looked at it and at the giant sword that was stabbed into the ground behind it. Naruto felt the corner of his lips curl when he remembered how he boasted at their first meeting about taking the sword. Truthfully he had debated with himself about taking the sword but it simply didn't seem right.

The blonde knelt down.

"Naruto!" Sakura called out once more.

"I'm coming." Naruto replied in a flat tone. He turned back to the grave.

"Haku's going back to the mist." Naruto began. "I thought she'd take the sword for sure but she decided to leave it here with you." The jinchuuriki traced the beginning of the grave with his fingers, getting a bit of dirt on them. "She told me that she has a new dream. She told me…"

The blonde hesitated then shrugged.

"She wants to become a shinobi that you can be proud of." He continued taking his fingers off of the grave and standing up. He dusted his hands on his knees. "She told me she's going to work hard and become the Mizukage so that she can keep people like you and her from going through what you guys went through."

"Your dream," Naruto whispered. "It lives on through her."

Naruto turned around and began to walk away.

"_I'm glad you and Haku were my first opponent… even though you guys were my enemies…" _He looked at the sky folding his arms behind his head. "Good bye… Demon of the Hidden Mist."

Naruto walked to see his teammates waiting for him.

Sasuke was sitting on a rock, one knee raised to his chest and hugging it with both arms. He was glaring sullenly at nothing in particular but aimed it at Naruto when he came into view. Sakura sat next to him, kicking her legs like a little girl and staring at Sasuke. Kakashi stood a bit apart from them, a smile on his face beneath his mask, the sharingan covered by his hiate once more.

Naruto was still wearing the loose clothing that Kakashi had bought for him.

It had been his birthday after all.

"You're late." Sakura told him when she saw the blonde walking up to them lazily. "What took you so long?"

"Just saying good-bye." Naruto replied without even looking at her. He looked at Kakashi.

Kakashi smiled at Naruto. "It looks like you grew a lot through this ordeal didn't you Naruto?"

Naruto just smirked.

"Let's go."

…1 Month Later…..

Sasuke stood on the limb of a tree, hiding behind its trunk. He had his hands at his side, one of them gripping a kunai, and trying to appear as small as possible. His breathing was ragged yet quiet to keep himself from being noticed. He looked down below already knowing that Sakura was sticking on the limb that he was standing on, except she was upside down. He would have preferred for her to be the one standing upright since even standing on a tree for extended amounts of time would waste her chakra but it wasn't the time to be picky about things like this. He saw her peer out from the limb that separated them and traded a nod with her.

"Do you really think you can hide from me with these type of pathetic strategies?"

Sasuke threw the kunai at his assailant's face who dodged immediately. Sasuke placed his hands above his head, placing his palms on the trunk right above it. Channeling chakra he stuck his palm to the trunk, flipping his body upwards in a sudden movement. He skidded upwards on the tree from the momentum but used his chakra to stop it.

His opponent had white hair that fell to his shoulder with a blue sheen in it. His eyes were green glittering with sharp intelligence. He wore the Konoha flak jacket and forehead protector despite being a missing ninja. He used the forehead protector like a bandanna. He was holding two large shuriken in both hands and an additional one on his back.

Mizuki threw the two shuriken one after the other towards Sasuke swinging his arms.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura ran up the side of the tree trunk holding a kunai in each hand in the reverse grip.

Sasuke leaped up dodging the first shuriken when something pulled him down. The Uchiha's eyes widened and he looked at Mizuki who clenched a fist and seemingly pulled.

"_Chakra wires." _Thought Sasuke right before the second shuriken stabbed into his stomach.

Blood leaked out of Sasuke's mouth.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura screamed throwing her kunai at Mizuki to distract him while running to his side.

Sasuke puffed into smoke, turning into a piece of wood.

Sasuke fell from the top of the trees throwing a barrage of shuriken towards Mizuki.

Mizuki drew the large shuriken from his back and held it by the hole in the middle. He spun it sparingly blocking each shuriken calmly. He watched as the shuriken barrage landed around him.

Sasuke began to form hand seals.

Mizuki swept his shuriken sideways cutting all the wires that were connected to the shuriken that Sasuke had thrown down earlier.

Sasuke's eyes widened, clenching the wires in his teeth. _"How did he-" _

Mizuki smirked appearing right in front of Sasuke, his arm held back and ready to slice Sasuke in two with the large shuriken that he was holding. "I was your teacher, of course I know all your techniques."

Sasuke doubled over in mid air as Mizuki punched him in the stomach. Mizuki grabbed Sasuke's collar and pulled himself closer while they were in midair, twisting at the same time to get himself behind Sasuke and rode on top of him. Mizuki grabbed his shuriken with both hands and attempted to stab downwards.

The chounin suddenly swung his arm downward, letting go of the shuriken with one hand. He held it at his side and blocked the few kunai that Sakura threw at him. Sakura leaped off of the trunk that she was standing on sideways and grabbed Sasuke from underneath Mizuki, landing on the other limb and skidding along it, throwing up bark and dust.

Mizuki landed on the ground and ran up the trunk of the tree that Sakura and Sasuke was on forming hand seals.

"Fire release," Mizuki muttered holding a hand seal in front of his chest while running up the trunk. His cheeks expanded as he blew. "Grand Fireball."

The fireball exploded as it hit the limb that Sasuke and Sakura were standing on, sending splinters flying through the clearing. Sakura and Sasuke leaped off of it in opposite directions, Sakura throwing a few kunai and Sasuke doing the same. Mizuki sped out of the debris and blocked every single kunai with the large shuriken in his hand before throwing it towards Sakura who was in mid air.

The shuriken hit Sakura and pinned her against the tree between the blades, knocking the air out of the girl. Sakura grunted as she felt her back being slammed into the tree and the blade part of the shuriken sink a bit into her skin and the trunk behind her. She tried to push the shuriken away from her and cried out in pain as it deepened the cut in both her hand and her stomach.

Sasuke landed on the tree trunk that Mizuki was running on. Sasuke crossed his arms in front of him as Mizuki skidded upwards on the bark, placing a kick squarely on Sasuke's guard. The Uchiha grunted and spread his arms savagely, forcing Mizuki to back off. The Chounin leaned forward punching Sasuke in the chest sending the Uchiha skidding upwards on the tree. Sasuke grimaced.

"_Even though I'm the one who's facing downwards and possessing upper ground," _Sasuke took out a few kunai throwing it towards the missing ninja. _"He's still managing to push me back." _

Mizuki ran towards Sasuke, ducking low so that his body was lowered on the tree. He dodged each kunai then suddenly lurched making a back fist with his right hand and pulling it towards his chest.

Sasuke was pulled off of his feet and he thought of the punch that the Chounin just hit him with on the chest.

"_Chakra Threads…" _

Mizuki kicked with his right leg hitting the Uchiha in the stomach. Sasuke's body bent in pain but managed to finish forming his hand seals. Seeing this the Chounin released his chakra threads and sent Sasuke flying upwards, bending his legs and jumping towards the other tree which for him was upwards. Sasuke traced Mizuki's trajectory with his mouth and placed a hand on his mouth to control his breathing. With his other hand he placed a palm on the tree and channeled chakra into it along with his legs sticking to the tree trunk.

Sasuke began to breath in controlled short gasps, sending out small balls of fire towards the Chounin. Mizuki landed on the opposite tree and took out a scroll from his pouch. Without turning around he placed it on the trunk with one hand opening it partially. With his other hand he stabbed it with a kunai, leaving a shallow cut on his finger that was holding the scroll. He swiped his hand down leaving a trail of blood on the scroll. There was a puff of smoke and Mizuki was suddenly holding two of those large shuriken once more. He held them by the ring in the center and began to cut the fireballs that came towards him in two.

"Even the so called Uchiha Clan," Mizuki mocked. "Is nothing special huh?"

"We'll see about that." Said a voice above him.

Mizuki's eyes widened as he struggled to look up. _"Distraction-" _

Sasuke flipped in the air right above Mizuki planting his heel right on Mizuki's neck. Since Mizuki was standing on the tree trunk it meant he was standing horizontally to the ground. Sasuke allowed the momentum to carry him and Mizuki all the way to the ground slamming Mizuki face first into the dirt.

Sasuke groaned on his back and rolled off of the unconscious Mizuki. He looked up at the tree where he had just taken Mizuki off of and saw Sakura smile down at him, still pinned in place by the shuriken.

"I'll get you out right away Sakura." Sasuke grabbed the shuriken that pinned Sakura against the tree by its ring and heaved, pulling it out.

Sakura fell towards the ground, losing consciousness from the blood loss.

"Sakura!"

A pair of arms caught her. "Good job Sasuke."

Kakashi smiled up at Sasuke who quickly leaped down to the ground. Kakashi hefted Sakura over his shoulder. "I'm surprised you guys succeeded in this mission."

"What about Naruto?" Sasuke threw the shuriken to the side and placed his hands on his knees, breathing heavily.

"Come on," Kakashi muttered. "He's right this way."

….

They found Naruto sitting down and looking at the sky.

He turned his gaze to his teammates when they approached. "Kakashi-sensei," He muttered. "What took you guys so long?"

Kakashi waved smiling. He was holding a rope by its end, dragging a tied up Mizuki at the other end. Sasuke and Sakura walked though they seemed to be tired. The two genin's eyes widened when they saw Naruto and the field on which he had fought.

It was a small clearing sparse of grass and full of rocks. It was surrounded by trees on one side and a lake on the other.

There were dozens of craters, varying in size in the ground. There were entire trees that had been ripped in half from whatever strike had hit them.

Naruto sat on top of his two opponents that were stacked on top of each other, one knee raised up and one hand resting on the it. The other hand was twirling a kunai by the ring on its handle.

The craters and the damage to the surrounding shocked Sauke and Sakura but that wasn't all.

Naruto's opponents were two humongous large men their hair tied up into a topknot. Both of them had on a vest that barely fit them. One of them had a beard beginning to grow on his chin. He was the one on the bottom and seemed to be completely unconscious, drooling a bit from the corner of his mouth. The other one was just as big, if not bigger than his partner. His eyes were open but unfocused and was making groaning noises. Naruto sat on top of the two looking as nonchalant as if he had just eaten dinner and was about to go to bed.

Sakura looked back and forth between Naruto and Kakashi.

"I-is this why you were late sensei?" Sakura asked. "You had to help-"

"Nope." Kakashi answered looking at Naruto's opponents. "Naruto did this himself. I actually wasn't even here. I was watching you and Sasuke do the mission." He smiled at her. "You guys did splendidly by the way."

Sakura gulped and looked at Naruto. _"Then just how well did he do…" _

Sasuke gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. He looked down at the ground his eyes burning with rage.

"_Just how much stronger is he… why can't I catch up?" _

Blood began to leak out of his fist.

"_I have the sharingan that I wanted so much… why can't I surpass him?" _

…..

The Sandaime cleared his throat gathering the attention of all the jounin in his presence. He sat behind a table with a candle on either side of him. He leaned back on the sofa-like chair noting the faces of all the jounin and other tokubetsu jounin that he gathered. The jounins sat in front of him in neat vertical and horizontal rows, sitting on the floor their legs crossed. In the front row he spotted Hatake Kakashi, Sarutobi Asuma, Maito Guy and even Yuhi Kurenai which surprised him. He had expected Asuma, Kakashi and Gai but not Kurenai. Kurenai was rather new in her capacity as a jounin and he wondered if her students inspired that much confidence within her.

The Third Hokage spoke up. "As you can see by the members that are gathered here," He already knew they knew, which was why those four were sitting in the front. "It's time."

Kakashi sighed trading a look with Asuma who sat next to him.

"It's already that time of the year eh?" Kakashi muttered.

Asuma nodded. "I thought it was about time." He smirked. "You think your team is ready for this Kakashi?"

Kakashi smiled with his one eye. "I guess we're about to see aren't we?"

"First," Sarutobi gestured at the three shinobi in front of him. "We'll hear from those who are watching over the new genin."

"Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai," Sarutobi asked. "Are there any of those under your charge that you would like to nominate for the exams?"

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Team 7 composed of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and…" Kakashi hesitated but they all knew whose name he was about to say next.

Kakashi wasn't a fool. The vendetta against Naruto was especially severe among the higher ranked jounin. A lot of people had been against Sarutobi even enrolling Naruto in the ninja program in the first place. Some of them knew that Naruto was the Fourth Hokage's son, some of them didn't. But it wasn't a matter of hating him or not anymore. Their fears were justified. They heard all too many stories of jinchuurikis in other villages going out of control causing casualties. Of course they were scared of Naruto.

But now Kakashi was about to enroll him in the chuunin exams. They weren't stupid. They all knew that Naruto had been deadlast and had been incapable of using the simplest of chakra exercises while in the academy. The fact that Kakashi was nominating him for the Chuunin exams was a testament to Naruto's improvement as a ninja and his aptitude for it.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Kakashi finished he winced as all the other jounin took a sharp intake of breath. "Under the name of my clan Hatake, I recommend them to take part in the Chounin exams."

The other jounin's eyes widened.

"Team 10 composed of Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino and Akimichi Chouji," Asuma muttered. "I also declare under the name of my clan Sarutobi," He pronounced those last words as if challenging anyone else to say otherwise. "That I nominate them for the Chuunin exams."

"Team 8 lead by Yuhi Kurenai," Kurenai continued not missing a beat, riding the flow as easily as if she was carrying on a conversation. "Composed of Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzaka Kiba and Aburame Shino under the name of my clan Yuhi, are also nominated for the Chuunin Exams."

"Hokage-sama!" Iruka's voice rang out with clarity breaking the flow.

"What is it Iruka?" The Hokage took a drag on his pipe.

"These genins that were all named," Iruka continued, desperate to make an argument. "Were students at my academy until a few months ago. If you could please let me have a word-"

"That was a few months ago Iruka." Kakashi cut in. He looked back at the chounin a belligerent tilt to his chin.

Iruka didn't back down if anything he became more aggressive.

"Hokage-sama," Iruka continued organizing his thoughts. "These genin are not ready! They need more experience! They haven't had enough missions that has the necessary amount of danger present for them to have matured into their own as shinobi yet. This test will crush them!"

"I took the test when I was only six years old." Kakashi quipped. "Six years younger than Naruto."

"NARUTO'S NOT LIKE YOU!" Iruka yelled.

Kakashi sighed.

"Recently we received the B-rank mission of finding the missing chounin Mizuki and the Stupid brothers. They were ordered that if they should find these ninja," Kakashi began. "To report back to me right away. Of course being the young hotheads that they are they decided to fight them. Sasuke and Sakura took down Mizuki who's known for his strength even among the chounin." Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "Naruto himself, without any help, took down the Stupid Brothers sustaining not a single wound. The only aftereffects of that battle he sustained was chakra exhaustion. But only a minor one."

The room began to be filled with whispers at the last part.

"Maybe they will be crushed," Kakashi continued. "Maybe not. But they're too cocky. Crushing them might be fun."

"Kakashi," Asuma warned. "That's enough."

Kakashi ignored him. "But that's not your call to make anymore Iruka… They're not your students anymore."

Iruka's eyes widened.

"They are my soldiers and their lives belong to me. Whether they live or not is my responsibility and my call to make." Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "So I'd appreciate it if you stop babying my soldiers." Kakashi turned back to face the Hokage.

The meeting finished without any further incident.

A few people stayed behind along with the Hokage.

"Kakashi, Kurenai," The Hokage muttered while taking a drag on his pipe. "Are you sure about this?" He gestured at Asuma. "I trust Asuma's judgement. He's produced more chounins than any other jounin sensei in the village and is renown as a good teacher. He's judgments have been proven to be sound and correct."

"But Kakashi," The Hokage continued. "These are your first students and Kurenai, it has not been that long since you've been instated as a jounin. Are you two sure about this?"

Kakashi nodded. "Both Sasuke and Naruto are already chounin level and growing faster at a rapid pace." He cleared his throat. "Naruto is no longer the dead last who couldn't grasp the concept of chakra anymore either. He defeated the hunter-nin from the Mist by himself. Sasuke is a progenitor of one of the most powerful clans in Konoha as well."

"Kakashi," Gai began. "You do know what you're doing?"

"It's time for them to stop living in fear of him." Kakashi stated. "Naruto is a ninja and nothing more, nothing less. It's time for him to show off his strength that he is in control and no one else."

"What about Sakura?" Gai asked.

Kakashi hesitated.

"As long as Sasuke and Naruto are with her," Kakashi muttered though he sounded a bit unsure. "She'll be fine. Besides I've already given her some special training. If we don't take this test she'll blame herself for dragging her teammates down. This test will make her grow in ways that she did not expect herself to grow."

The Hokage nodded at Kurenai.

"They are all from respectable ninja clans," Kurenai shrugged summing up her argument. "I don't need to train them in any special ways. They have already had the basics beaten into their core."

The Hokage nodded. He had expected as much. "Then all of you are dismissed… except Kakashi."

The rest of the jounins vanished using the Body Flicker technique to disappear in various ways.

"Kakashi," the Sandaime began. "I want to talk about your latest report."

Kakashi froze.

"As I said I'm not sure but-"

"Kakashi," Something dangerous entered his tone.

"Do not lie to me."

Kakashi nodded. "I think… Naruto has gained an additional ability from the demon. I'm not sure what it is but… I think it's a doujutsu. I saw some weird chakra activity in his eyes." He shrugged. "Again I'm not sure but…"

"Have you asked Naruto about this?"

Kakashi fidgeted. "I was waiting for him to come to me on his own accord."

The Hokage stapled his fingers, resting his elbows on his desk. "I see. Keep an eye on him and at the first sign of danger… report back to me. Understood?"

Kakashi nodded.

"Understood."

AN: The end. Not really action filled or anything but it was a needed chapter. I think this chapter was pretty good if I do say so myself. I think the battle with Naruto and Haku was actually really good. Naruto wasn't too powerful but he was strong enough to definitely declare his superiority over haku. Yeah I let Haku live. I thought it fit the story. The Chuunin exams begin next chapter! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!


	5. Hostage Situation

AN: Here we go.

….

"This is the tenth time that you've challenged me Sasuke."

Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura were gathered together at the place where they usually waited for Kakashi. Naruto still wore the outfit that Kakashi had bought for him at the Land of Waves. The outfit was very similar to the ANBU uniform except it lacked the vest. The blonde had no kunai or shuriken holster attached anywhere on his body though. There was a new addition to his outfit, a pair of leather gloves to metal studs on the knuckles. Naruto's metal forehead protector hung near his waist through a loop in his pants.

Sasuke donned the traditional Uchiha clothing. He wore a blue short sleeved shirt with a high collar that hid his neck that had the Uchiha Fan on the back. He wore white shorts. A new addition to his outfit was an additional kunai pouch on his other leg. He wore the Konoha Hiate wrapped around his forehead. The Uchiha stood facing the blonde who was standing near the trees. They were at the place where they first conducted their genin exam along with Kakashi, which seemed like forever ago. The clearing was full of grass with a small lake on one side and a forest on the other.

Naruto hung upside down on a tree using only his chakra, his arms folded. His blonde hair had grown out again long enough to cover his forehead and eyes when he hung his head. But right now they pointed straight down towards the ground.

"It'll be different this time." Sasuke muttered getting in a stance.

"Just because you learned one jutsu," Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Doesn't mean you will defeat me." The blonde stopped channeling chakra into his feet, flipping in the air neatly before landing on the ground barely making any noise at all. Sasuke noticed this right away.

"_He wasn't capable of things like that before… that was almost Kakashi level sneakiness…" _Sasuke's hands inched towards his kunai holster.

His eyes changed until they were red and black, two tomoes spinning lazily in each eye.

"Activate your doujutsu," Sasuke snarled. "I'll show you what a _real _Uchiha can do."

Word had spread quickly about Naruto's new doujutsu once Sakura had learned of it. Due to its similarities with the sharingan many people started to speculate whether Naruto was a bastard child of an Uchiha that had survived the massacre about seven years ago. Naruto ignored the rumors knowing the truth behind them. It wasn't like anybody asked for his opinion anyways. Sasuke demanded that Naruto show it to him once he learned about it but the blonde disagreed.

He didn't need it to take care of the Uchiha.

Naruto knew his doujutsu was not the Sharingan. He simply did not like Sasuke enough to show it to him when he asked for it.

Now he was known as the Bastard Uchiha.

The Jinchuuriki hated it.

"I SAID SHOW ME YOUR SHARINGAN!" Sasuke screamed.

Sakura sat on the side observing this. Sasuke, even since the mission where they had apprehended Mizuki, had been more moody and depressed than ever before. He constantly challenged the blonde never giving it rest. Sakura knew for a fact that Sasuke had doubled, almost tripled, his training regime. The kunoichi looked down at her own hands which had become rough with calluses. She had been training hard as well to catch up to the Sasuke but…

It seemed as if both of them were getting further and further away each day.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "I don't bully people weaker than me."

Sasuke's eyes widened.

The Uchiha's hands flew into hand seals. Sakura barely saw his hands move, it seemed like just one big blur to her. It was a testament to Sasuke's training that his hand seals were done at a speed much faster than before.

Sasuke leaned back, his hands clutched into a single hand seal. His chest seemed to swell before the Uchiha opened his mouth, blowing a fireball into existence. The fireball was on a different scale from the ones that the Uchiha had created before. First of all, it was a lot larger and despite the increase in speed, it was a lot faster than the old one. Even before the fire ball had reached Naruto, Sasuke's hands flew into hand seals to chain another technique on top of the one he had just used.

Naruto ran towards the ball of fire which was big enough to engulf him whole. The blonde jumped towards the ball of fire enhancing his leap with chakra.

Then to Sakura and Sasuke's shock Naruto cleaved the fireball in half with an overhead kick, his feet trailing black smoke.

Sasuke faltered for a single instant before resuming his chain of hand seals. His chest swelled again before he spat out another fire technique. While the other one had been a large sphere of fire intended to attack a single target and specific area, this technique spread over a large area. It was more like a stream of fire that widened as it got further away from Sasuke, that left Naruto no room to dodge.

Naruto raised his leg, knee first then snapped his leg upwards as if he was kicking someone right in the chin.

An arc of black chakra flew out of Naruto's leg cleaving through the storm of fire. Naruto, after unleashing this technique, ran through the path created for him. Sasuke began to backpedal when Naruto suddenly vanished in an explosion of black chakra near the ground, sending cracks along the rocky ground, sending up dust and gravel.

Naruto appeared in front of the Uchiha, his arms hidden by his own torso and stance low to the ground.

Sasuke immediately took out a kunai flicking it towards Naruto's face. The blonde bent his body backwards, allowing the kunai to sail by right in front of his face. Naruto's hand whipped out grabbing Sasuke's neck. Abruptly Sasuke felt Naruto's kick hit the bend of his knees at the same time that Naruto pushed Sasuke backwards by the neck. The Uchiha heir saw the world spin and got the breath knocked out of him as Naruto spun him vertically slamming him into the ground face first. Sasuke tasted dirt in his mouth and felt Naruto step on the back of his neck.

"That's enough Uchiha," Naruto released the pressure on Sasuke's neck. "It's obvious who the winner is."

Sasuke stayed there on the ground, staring at nothing.

Sakura watched as Naruto walked away, sitting on a rock and staring at the Uchiha, folding his arms as if he was contemplating something. The Kunoichi looked at her crush truly feeling pity for the Uchiha. Sasuke seemed to be almost obsessed with the goal of catching up to Naruto but the blonde was just getting further and further away. She couldn't even help Sasuke out because all her own time was taken up by Kakashi's training regime that he had devised for her. She knew Sasuke was a talented ninja because everyone said so. But then how did he start losing to the dead last of the academy that had almost nothing? Sasuke was the elite of the elite, hailing from the Uchiha Clan known for producing one of the strongest shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato. He was also coined as Rookie of the year, graduating at the top of the academy with full marks in both taijutsu, ninjutsu and even the rare genjutsu. He was both smart and strong, something that a lot of people did not possess.

Naruto on the other hand was the dead last of their year, the loser that everyone used to pick upon. Sakura remembered the academy days when he sat alone on the swings and would be pushed off by people a lot bigger and stronger than him. Naruto was always the butt of their jokes and not even the teachers liked him. He hardly ever muttered more than two or three words, always managing to piss someone off when he did. The blonde came from a clan called Uzumaki, a clan that Sakura had never heard of and he was an orphan to boot. Technically Sasuke was an orphan as well but he had a whole clan compound to himself. His clan was the stuff of legends. Naruto came from an unknown clan and had nothing to show for it.

Naruto literally came out of nowhere.

No parents, no family no friends yet possessing strength beyond the elite Uchiha.

Sasuke slammed his fist down onto the ground with a snarl shocking Sakura out of her thoughts.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. It wasn't unusual for the Uchiha to show such bouts of anger but the fact that he had done it with so much… _emotion _behind it was something that surprised the blonde.

"Why?" Sasuke muttered.

No one replied.

"WHY!" Sasuke screamed looking at Naruto.

Naruto didn't answer, leaning on the rock with his arms crossed. He just gazed at Sasuke with his cool eyes.

Sasuke got up, dusting his knees and regaining his composure but the rage in his eyes did not disappear.

Sakura cleared her throat and threw on her best smile.

"Come on guys," She muttered looking in between the two. "Let's go to the exam now. We're going to be late."

Naruto pushed himself off of the rock, walking past the brooding Uchiha who followed shortly after.

That is how they began the Chuunin Exams.

…

"Lee!"

A genin clad in green tried to get up, his face swelling with a fresh bruise. He had a bowl hair cut and a skin tight green body suit. His eyebrows were unusually thick and fuzzy, something that the blonde noticed right away. He had a belt like contraption around his waist with the metal part of the forehead protector attached to it. He had orange leg warmers and hands wrapped in bandages.

Naruto thought he saw skin riddled with scars beneath them.

Two genin were standing guard. One had bandages wrapped around his face with long spiky hair. He had bandages wrapped around his body and two weapon like objects wrapped in even more bandages on his back attached to each other through chains. His teammate wore a bandana and the konohagakure forehead protector.

"Let us through!" The girl who was propping up the genin clad in green seemed to be on the verge of tears. She had her brown hair tied up into two neat buns at the top of her head, wearing a pink sleeveless vest.

"Hey," The genin with the bandages wrapped around his head took a step closer. "We took this test three times and failed three times. We're just weeding you guys out and saving you from pain. If you can't even defeat us then your death is a sure thing."

Naruto made a motion to interfere.

Sakura grabbed the edge of his shirt.

The blonde turned his cold gaze to the pink haired kunoichi, a quizzical tilt to his head.

"It's a genjutsu," Sakura answered the boy's unsaid question, speaking low so that other teams did not hear. "This is actually the second floor."

The blonde cleared his throat. "Why didn't you stop him?"

Sakura turned and buried her face in her hands.

"Chounin go on to become military captains." One of the genin guarding the doorway said to the crowd, his voice meeting no opposition. "They are responsible not only for the success or failure of a mission but… the lives of their teammates."

"Think you're ready for that?"

While the crowd had been speaking the Uchiha had waded past the crowd. Sasuke's demeanor and the arrogant gait in his walk made people automatically turn aside to give way to him. It wasn't that they were scared of him but they knew that instead of just standing around and watching the Uchiha was about to do something that would be worth watching.

"Move aside," Sasuke had his hands in his pockets and a bored expression. "And remove the genjutsu surrounding this area."

Naruto gave Sakura a look.

"S-sorry," Sakura said sheepishly. "I forgot we had two hotheads on this team."

The blonde narrowed his eyes at Sakura's friendly demeanor but let the comment pass. Teamwork was important during this test and he wasn't going to jeopardize it by mentioning his discomfort at Sakura's misconception about their relationship.

He could straighten it out later.

Meanwhile Sasuke had gotten into a fight with one of the genins that had been initially blocking the door.

Naruto saw the genin wearing the bandages throw the initial strike, putting both hands on the ground and kicking sideways. By relying on his arms for balance the genin was putting the entire weight of his body in that kick. Though it was a risky maneuver it granted the user power to pay off if it succeeded.

Sasuke leaned sideways slightly snapping his leg up to retaliate with a kick to the boy's hips to disrupt his sense of balance.

"Not bad." Sakura heard Naruto whisper beneath his breath.

Sakura saw in just a moment what Naruto was talking about.

The genin wearing the green body suit, named Lee, appeared in between the two. He maneuvered his body with a fluidity that Sakura had only seen in Naruto. He grabbed the ankle of both Sasuke and the bandage genin stopping both of their attacks mid en route.

"_Not only was he able to see the kick's trajectory and the way to block it," _Sakura swallowed. _"He had the speed necessary to counter both of them. If he wanted to…" _she looked at Naruto asking him a silent question.

"Sasuke would be dead by now if this was a battle." Naruto answered without taking his eye off of the green genin. He and Sakura returned their focus onto the situation at hand once more.

"Lee!" the girl with the pink vest and two brown buns on top of her head walked over to her teammate, one hand on her hips. "It was your idea to hide our strength!"

"Their wounds are gone." The blonde muttered making sure that his pink haired teammate could hear.

"But…" Lee looked abashed, scratching the back of his head with a smile.

Then to the shock of Team 7 the genin clad in green turned his gaze towards Sakura with a blush on his face. Then to further their surprise he actually walked over. Even the way he walked was true to his image, both hands clenched into fists and swinging as he took one step after another, his back straight and head held up high.

"Hi." Lee stood in front of Sakura a strangely excited look on his face.

"I'm Rock Lee and… you name is Sakura." He closed his name as tears began to fall down his face. "What a beautiful name that is."

Sakura looked at Naruto throwing him a silent plea for help.

The blonde took a step away from the two, his face blank.

Lee suddenly exploded into motion surprising the kunoichi, holding up a thumb and smiling with one eye closed in a horrendous wink, his teeth reflecting the light that almost blinded Sasuke who was walking over.

"Oh my eyes…" Sasuke stopped walking and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand wondering what kind of genjutsu the ninja clad in green must have used.

"I'll protect you forever." Lee exclaimed gathering the attention of the other genin who were slowly filing out towards the third floor. "Please go out with me!"

Sakura's answer came at the speed of light.

"No. You're super lame."

While Lee hung his head as tears of sadness fell from his eyes the blonde locked gazes with the boy's teammates. There was a boy with long brown hair and strangely opaque eyes. He wore the forehead protector and a smaller headband underneath with hanging cloth that framed the sides of his face.

"Hey you," The boy walked over to Sasuke grinning crookedly. "What's your name?"

Sasuke was sweating slightly from the short exchange that he just had. "Isn't it manners to state your name first when introducing yourself?"

"Cheeky," The genin commented. "You graduated this year didn't you? How old are you?"

Sasuke shrugged dodging the question. As if on cue the two turned away from each other walking in opposite directions.

"Your teammate's pretty cute," the girl had somehow appeared next to Naruto without him noticing. "What's his name?"

Naruto looked at the girl. "Uchiha Sasuke." He answered noting the konoha headband on her forehead.

"Oh wow," She whistled. "So that's the rumored Uchiha huh…" She smiled at him. "Must be tough having such a tough teammate on your squad. I bet he looks down on you huh?"

Naruto remained silent.

"Work hard," She clapped him on the back. "Maybe someday you'll surpass him." She walked away following her teammate. She waved over her back. "I'm Tenten by the way! See you later!"

Sakura walked up to the blonde looking after the girl who was walking away. "What did she ask you? She looked friendly enough."

Naruto just growled low in his throat.

Sakura shut up.

Sasuke walked back rejoining his team. "Come on let's go."

Lee watched them go.

"Lee!" Tenten called getting the attention of her teammate. "Come on what're you waiting for?"

Lee didn't even bother to look back at Neji and Tenten who was in the middle of walking away in order to get to the testing sight.

"You guys go on ahead," Lee told them beginning to follow after Team 7. "There's something I want to do."

…..

Naruto walked with his teammates down the hall heading towards the stairs. The stairs lead to an upper corridor which would lead to the third floor where the testing was done. Naruto vaguely remembered the lecture hall. He realized that it had been quite a while since he came to the academy.

Then again he didn't really have any reason to remember those memories.

Naruto had been bullied, spat on and cursed at in the academy since when he was a kid to when he got older. He had never met a teacher who was kind to him. The best thing he had to a favorite teacher was Iruka who wasn't kind but was fair. Iruka never yelled at him for nothing, never blamed the blonde for something he didn't do and always seemed to understand the blonde's situation. Naruto suspected that Iruka held a bit of sympathy for the blonde which was why he let him off so easy while other teachers didn't bother hiding their disgust.

But Iruka too, turned a blind eye when other kids bullied him.

The Jinchuuriki hadn't been bullied because of lack of strength.

He'd been bullied because he didn't fight back.

The blonde had learned at a young age that fighting back was the worst thing to do. Not only was he punished by the teachers and the parents of the kids that he hurt but the next day he would be jumped and ganged up on by a bigger crowd, this time filled with upperclassmen and little kids who pelted him with rocks. Though the blonde hadn't been keen on being submissive and docile he learned that to stay off their radar, it was best to simply appear weak.

"Hey you with the dark eyes,"

A familiar voice brought Naruto out of his musings.

Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura looked up to the second floor corridor which was visible to them. Rock Lee stood there, the owner of the voice that had just called out to them, tightening the bandages wrapped around his arms.

"_I didn't even notice him." _Naruto thought back to the time when Tenten had walked up to him without notice. He had a gut feeling that the one with the clear eyes could do the same thing. _"That whole team… is on a whole new level." _

"What do you want?" Sasuke answered readopting his arrogant posture.

"Will you fight with me right now?"

The Uchiha frowned. "Right now?"

"Yes right now." Lee jumped over the railing landing on the wooden boards without a single sound.

"I want to test my techniques against the offspring of the genius Uchiha clan," continued Lee, shooting a glance at Sakura. "Besides…"

"Fine with me." Sasuke took a step.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura warned. "We're going to be late."

Sasuke ignored her. "Challenging me while knowing the Uchiha name…" Sasuke took his hands out of his pockets and kicked the ground once to make sure his sandals were on tight. "You're a fool. I will teach you what the name Uchiha means…"

"_He's the strongest of his year… good. Finally I will be able to test me techniques against the genius clan, Uchiha…." _Lee got into a stance putting one hand behind his back, standing sideways and holding a palm out towards the Uchiha.

Sasuke made a move.

Naruto's foot blurred, the bend of his knee hooking around the Uchiha's neck. Sasuke made a gurgling noise more high pitched than normal as Naruto kicked back with the leg, sending the rookie of the year to the floor in one smooth move, slamming him to the wall behind them.

Sasuke growled.

Naruto ignored it.

"Sakura's right," The blonde stepped up instead lowering his stance. "We don't have time for this. I'll finish him."

"I'm sorry… Naruto was it?" Lee frowned. "The one I want to fight against is the Uchiha… not you."

"Your fucking teammate said the same thing."

Lee's eyes narrowed.

Then he blurred.

In one moment the shinobi had been in front of the blonde a few feet away when he suddenly appeared on top of Naruto.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun!" Lee yelled while in the air. His leg stretched upwards to come down on Naruto's head in an overhead kick. "But I can't let you insult my teammate like-"

Naruto's heel slammed into the taijutsu specialist's head. Instead of taking his feet off after the initial strike Naruto pushed down with the heel carrying Lee's momentum and slamming him headfirst into the ground, black chakra trailing behind the kick's path. There was the sound of wood breaking and the floor caved inwards sending splinters flying everywhere as Naruto's kick created a mini crater with Lee's face.

Naruto activated his doujutsu for just an instant, seeing a single blue points on the back of his opponent's head.

He deactivated it immediately after engraving the position in his head.

"_B-but I kicked first…" _Lee tried to move when he felt something strangely like a finger stab into the back of his neck, paralyzing him from the neck down.

Naruto grabbed the genin by the hair and lifted him up, ignoring his groans.

"You go back and tell your teammate," Naruto whispered. "That it was Uzumaki Naruto who defeated you."

"I'll appreciate it if you let go of my student."

Naruto twisted his hits kicking upwards with his leg into the air behind him which left a trail of shadow behind it in the air. The blonde felt the air stir when the weight that he was holding in his hands disappear, replaced by something else. Naruto looked at the space where he had been holding Lee to find a stump of wood dressed in a simple white shirt.

The black chakra wielder dropped the log, sending it rolling across the floor towards the man in front of him.

The blonde thought that Lee had suddenly skipped thirty years in the span of three seconds when he realized that the man was kneeling and laying Lee onto the floor asking him if he was ok. He wore the exact same outfit as his student except he lacked the orange leg warmers and adorned an addition of a chounin vest. Even from a distance the blonde could tell that the man was well built, possessing high cheek bones. Though he wasn't by any means good looking, the blonde could tell he was strong.

Gai looked down at Lee then at the blonde.

"I… kicked first…" Lee muttered.

"_Yes… Lee did kick first." _Gai looked at the blonde who was studying him with careful eyes. _"But his kick landed first. That's because Lee's kick goes up into the air and comes down, two separate movements. But Naruto's kick… came from the side. If Lee's movement is up and down, two straight lines, Naruto's kick was an arc, one movement and a single curved line. Which is why his kick landed first. That's not something Kakashi teaches… not to mention the power behind it…" _Gai looked down at his student. _"This kid is a monster… a monster genius." _

"So you're Kakashi's students." Gai hefted the paralyzed Lee over his shoulder. He pointed at each of them in turn.

"Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke," He then hesitated when he got the last member.

"And Uzumaki Naruto."

"If you'll excuse us," Sakura spoke while smiling slightly, hiding behind Naruto while Sasuke walked up to them. "T-the test begins in a few seconds."

"Before you go," Gai pointed at Lee. "I'd appreciate it if you returned him to normal."

Team 7 began to walk up the stairs

"The test is in 15 minutes," Naruto told him. "The effects will wear off in five."

Gai watched them go while Lee slept on the floor.

"_Uzumaki Naruto… it seems Kakashi's descriptions of you were true… the one who improved the most… though the other jounin don't really believe him… the fact that you defeated Lee in one blow is enough for me." _

Gai smirked.

"_This exam's going to be interesting." _

…

The Jounins all sat in a room watching the testing area.

The room was round with a door on one side and sofas scattered around the room. At the center of the room was a tower like contraption with various screens monitoring different sides of the classroom. Kakashi sat on one of the couches with Asuma sitting next to him. Kurenai stood looking out the window, her arms crossed. Kakashi peered from the edge of his single eye to see Asuma staring at her. He felt a smile curl up underneath his mask but fought the voice inside his head that urged him to do something mischievous.

"So what do you think about this years crop?" Someone whispered in their ear, leaning her torso on the couch from behind, putting herself in between Kakashi and the Sarutobi.

"Anko," Asuma admonished gently tearing his gaze away from Kurenai before the jounin could notice. He pretended to look at the screen. "You're the examiner, you should have better opinions than us."

Anko had light brown and pupil-less eyes. She had violet hair that was tied into a spiky ponytail that pointed slightly upwards behind her head. She was wearing a tan overcoat and a fitted mesh body suit. She wore an orange miniskirt and completed her outfit with the standard konoha hiate around her forehead.

"Kakashi," Anko ignored the older man irking him. "I heard your kids are in the exam this year?"

Kakashi nodded leaning back and placing his arms over the sofa's backrest. "They're right there."

Anko looked through the screen to see three kids which Kakashi's screen was focused on. She cocked her head to the side studying them.

"Don't look that special to me." She turned to Kakashi. "Is that blonde one the Uchiha? I didn't know that Uchihas came in blonde."

"No." Kakashi answered. "The one with dark hair is the Uchiha."

Anko frowned.

"But the blonde's the strongest…" Anko stood up again, holding her chin with her hand. "My instincts are never wrong."

"The blonde is the strongest." Kakashi shrugged.

"What?!" Anko laughed incredulously. "The mighty progenitor of the Uchiha clan is not the strongest of his genin squad? Who is that kid?"

"Uzumaki Naruto." Kakashi muttered.

Anko hesitated.

"I see." She muttered, narrowing her eyes. "I've never had a… jinchuu-"

"Anko," Asuma hissed warning the woman.

Anko stopped herself looking around the room spotting a few famous jounins from other villages resting in the room along with them. Thouh they had tried their best to accommodate everyone there simply wasn't enough room in Konoha to house all of them. They knew that the jounins were smart enough not to start a fight during this exam so some of the villages had been forced to observe the test in one room.

"Well then," Anko walked towards the door, leaving the two men to their own musings. "I have a test to proctor. I'll be seeing you!"

….

Sakura buried her face in her hands. _"Naruto… why do you always do this…" _

Ino pointed at the blonde screaming at Sakura. "WHAT THE HELL DOES HE THINK HE'S DOING?"

Naruto sat on top of three bodies, each of them conscious but unable to move.

"Let this be a lesson to the rest of you," Naruto sat on top of them, his foot on the floor as if he was sitting on the chair. One foot was on the head of the sound genin that was on the top of the body pile. He had long spiky black hair and the sound hiate on his forehead. He was the only unconscious one. He had started to scream, spit and curse when he found that he had been paralyzed. The blonde had knocked him out by giving him a savage stomp on the forehead which had turned the classroom into silence.

Everyone stared at him.

"Those who mess with Konoha Shinobi," Naruto's eyes were shades lighter than their usual color, resembling ice. "Will suffer the same fate as these three."

"_Not bad." _Temari traded a look with Kankuro both of them acknowledging the boy's skill.

"_W-what…" _Kiba swallowed. _"I-Is that really Naruto?" _

Tenten and Neji watched from their seats. The girl licked her lips.

"_If he's that strong… I wonder how strong Sasuke is… where's Lee… the test's going to start soon." _

Naruto's hand whipped down, poking the forehead of the girl who was right below the guy he was sitting on. He poked her skin with the kunai in his hand that the boy had thrown, a kunai so thin that it resembled a needle with a hole in the middle.

Naruto smirked.

"Termination."

Naruto got up, pocketing the kunai. "I'll be keeping this." He reached down with a finger, stabbing a spot near their necks and walking away.

Dosu, finding the strength returning to his limbs, pushed his two teammates off of him looking at the retreating blonde.

"Hey you!" Dosu yelled making the blonde pause.

Dosu hesitated wondering if the blonde was going to attack him again and feeling the eyes of every occupant in the room.

"What's your name?" Dosu muttered. _"If we cower with our tails behind our legs now… we're going to be the laughingstocks for the rest of this exam." _

Naruto turned his head back a fraction. "Naruto… Uzumaki Naruto."

"Did you really have to do that?" Sakura admonished when the blonde got back to his seat.

He turned his flat gaze to her.

Sakura hung her head. "Geesh… I was just asking… you've attracted the attention of every foreign shinobi in the room."

Sasuke crossed his arms. "That was stupid even by my standards."

The blonde sighed closing his eyes. "It was a simple warning… and nothing more." He opened them a sliver. "Besides… they started it."

An explosion of smoke signaled the beginning of the test.

Naruto smirked.

"So it begins."

…..

Naruto's smirk was gone.

So was a chunk of his hair.

Despite the blonde's cool personality that allowed him to keep a level of calmness in all types of situations this test was pushing the limits of his patience. Naruto looked down at the piece of paper in front of him wondering just how possible it was for his days at the academy to come back and bite him in the ass.

"_I wish I paid attention…" _Naruto swallowed realizing that he felt two pairs of eyes on the back of his head. Even without looking he knew that it was Sasuke and Sakura. It was no secret that the blonde had received a near zero on every single type of written exam. He cleared his throat and looked sideways locking gazes with one of the chounin examiners. The chounin examiner pointed at his eyes than towards Naruto, indicating that he was watching him.

The blonde grunted and turned his eyes towards the paper exam again.

"_It's not even multiple choice." _Naruto sighed and twirled the pencil in his hand looking at it. He closed his eyes clearing his head of all other thoughts.

"_One point off for every wrong answer, two points off for getting caught cheating." _The blonde tried to use his head, something he wasn't used to doing. _"Ok. It makes sense that there's one point off for every wrong answer. But two points off for cheating? Why not just fail us outright? If we cheat we're just using the knowledge of someone else… this test is supposed to test us for how much we know. If we cheat we're just… cheating." _

The Jinchuuriki's eyes widened.

Kyuubi's growl of satisfaction echoed throughout the blonde's head.

"_**Dumbass." **_

Naruo cleared his throat attracting the attention of one of the nearest chounin examiners. He glared right back not giving an inch though in truth he wished that he was glaring at the Kyuubi within his stomach instead.

"_This test isn't about how much we know," _Naruto concluded looking at his pencil. _"It's to test us on our ability to… cheat." _

The blonde smiled.

"_My specialty… cheating and fighting dirty." _

The blonde's eyes began to change shape.

The blue pupils began to contract and begin to grow lighter and lighter in color until it resembled blue in only the faintest sense of the word. Two triangles formed that began to spin around his pupil while rotating slowly by themselves as well. The triangles were a dark shade of blue that closely resembled the blonde's original eye color.

Unlike what Naruto had first suspected the Kyuubi had not given him the Sharingan. Instead he had given him a variation of it. It lacked many abilities of the sharingan, namely its ability to induce genjutsu or copy the ninjutsu of other shinobi. However Naruto was able to see the flow of chakra just fine indicating that it would be able to pierce through most genjutsu. But beyond its ability to pierce through genjutsu it gave Naruto vision to the many pressure points present on the bodies. One thing that the blonde had found out was that the pressure points changed their effects and positions depending on how the person was holding themselves or even which muscles they were clenching. Naruto saw a blue points, representing paralysis and numbness, change into red, pain and suffering, right before he stabbed it. It was a tricky thing to get the timing just right.

Naruto saw the hand movements of the shinobi in front of him using his eye. He cleared his throat before ordering his hand muscles to mimic the hand movements exactly as best as he could. He imagined that the Sharingan could copy the movements exactly giving Sasuke a rather perfect copy of the answer. But for Naruto the best he could do was see the miniscule movements of the hand in front of him and try to copy it. When he looked down at his paper he saw a very unintelligible piece of writing that resembled a few words and numbers. Luckily he was able to decipher it putting down the right answer.

The blonde did this for the next hour, using his doujutsuto copy the answers of various shinobi that were on the same problems as he was.

"Number 103," A chounin with bandages wrapped all over his face called out, getting the blonde's attention. "You've been caught cheating five times. Get out."

The genin exploded.

"DO YOU HAVE PROOF THAT I-"

The chounin disappeared from his seat and the genin disappeared a moment later.

"_Nice movements." _Naruto noted.

The chounin slammed the genin into the wall with one hand, bringing his face close to the genin's own. The other hand was in his pocket.

"Do you know why us chounin were chosen instead of anyone else?" The man turned his head. "Because we are the elite. I guess you could say that this strength is proof that we don't need proof. Now get out."

Naruto gulped. _"If I didn't have a doujutsu…" _

"Enough!" Ibiki, the examiner, yelled out slamming a hand on the timer that was next to him.

Naruto cursed inwardly looking at his incomplete answer sheet. It was mostly blank and he had a feeling that he had not deciphered some of the scribbles correctly. At this point he couldn't be sure of any answers on his test sheet. He cursed hoping that Sasuke and Sakura were able to score full points on their exams.

Ibiki began to explain the tenth question.

…..

Naruto watched numerous teams, mostly from Konoha from the looks of it, being escorted out the classroom door. The blonde looked back at Sakura and Sasuke who seemed confident of their answers. Sakura shot him a silent question with a glare. Naruto returned it turning back to his own paper. The option of giving up didn't even enter the blonde's mindset.

There had to be a catch to this.

Someone grabbed the collar behind his shirt.

"Hey Examiner," The owner of the hand said out of Naruto's sight. "I saw this guy cheating."

Naruto looked behind him to see a examiner whose head was wrapped in bandages. The only part of his face exposed was his mouth. He had the Konoha Hiate wrapped around where his eyes would have been. He was holding onto the back of Naruto's shirt.

Ibiki walked over, towering over the two. Naruto realized the man seemed big at a distance but up close he was practically a giant. The blonde unconsciously felt himself gathering chakra out of pure instinct. Once he realized that his body would start leaking black chakra he stopped immediately, dissipating the gathered pool of chakra with little effort.

"Was this his first time?" Ibiki folded his arms, crossing them in front of his chest. Naruto thought he saw scars beneath the man's gloves but ignored it.

"Yes…" The chounin nudged Naruto prompting the blonde to get out of his seat. "But he turned around in his seat… it was too blatant to ignore."

"_So I was right." _Thought the blonde with satisfaction. The test had been a way for them to measure how well they could gather information and relay it to their teammates.

"Get out of here." Ibiki muttered nudging the blonde as well noting that the genin had ignored the chounin's orders.

"I didn't cheat." Naruto muttered.

Sakura traded a look with Sasuke. No one else caught the two trading looks thanks to all the attention being focused on the blonde.

They had a sinking feeling in their chest.

"Are you talking back to us?" Ibiki frowned. "Listen kid, being a chounin is about reading the situation. Right now we outnumber you and we're your superiors regardless of which village you come from." Ibiki glanced down at Naruto's belt and saw the Konoha Hiate. "Especially since you're in this village."

"Is being a chounin about taking shit for things I didn't do?" Naruto whispered.

"What was that?" The chounin with the bandages wrapped all around his face grabbed the back of Naruto's shirt again, kicking the chair that the blonde was sitting on.

Naruto frowned. "I don't like it when people touch me."

The chounin lost his cool. "You little shit, you think this exam is a joke?" He kicked the bottom of Naruto's chair again.

Sakura buried her face in her arms again. _"Naruto… don't do this…" _

Sasuke glared. _"If you get us kicked out of this exam… hold it in Naruto… they might let you go if you apologize." _

Ino, who was sitting next to the pink haired kunoichi, leaned over and whispered. "Did Naruto get brain damage in a mission? Why's he mouthing off to them like that?"

"_Because he's strong." _Sakura thought but did not voice it. _"Because he hates people who pick on the weak… and right now they're bullying him. They're trying to intimidate him." _

Sasuke thought he saw a hint of darkness turn in an half arc around Naruto's heel before disappearing into nothingness.

"_He's about to blow." _The Uchiha shot a look at Sakura.

Sakura's eyes widened. _"Sasuke-kun… no… we're going to be killed…" _

Sasuke nodded.

"_Well… if Sasuke-kun's asking I guess…" _Sakura readied herself.

"I SAID GET THE FUCK UP!"

Hell erupted.

Naruto moved in an instant, kicking the table in front of him straight up with enough force to shatter it against the ceiling. He twisted as he got up kneeing the chair that he had been sitting on into the chounin examiner's groin. When the chounin examiner bent over the blonde grabbed him by the top of the head, twisting so that the back of the chounin's head laid on his chest. Naruto kicked the bend off the guy's knee forcing him to collapse with his legs sprawled out. In a flash the blonde had the kunai from the oto ninja that he pocketed from before pointed at the man's temple while holding him from behind by the neck in a loose headlock.

Ibiki froze right in front of the blonde.

Every other chounin examiner had left their seats as soon as the blonde had kicked his desk up into the air. But they simply weren't ready for the savagery nor the speed that the genin had displayed. They weren't even ready for such a display by a genin nonetheless. No one, in all their years of administering the chounin exams, had never ever witnessed a genin do something like this. This situation was unprecedented and frankly, the blonde should would have been riddled with a dozen stab wounds.

Except his teammates defended him.

Sasuke stood next to the blonde facing a different direction his sharingan spinning wildly in his eyes. He held a kunai in each hand, his arms crossed in front of him so that the kunai tips pointed away from him. Sakura stood next to the Uchiha holding a kunai with both hands. Though she didn't quite fulfill the imposing figure that Sasuke was, she had a dedicated look in her eyes saying she would fight to the death if she needed to.

Team 7 stood, holding a chounin examiner hostage, in the center of the room surrounded by the best chounin of Konoha not to mention the head of their interrogation squad.

Pieces of Naruto's desk began to rain down from the ceiling.

"Ibiki-san…" The chounin holding the biggest weapon muttered. He had long spiky black hair and dark eyes, a strip of bandage running across the bridge of his nose. The weapon in his hand was some type of living mace, resembling a conch shell. The thing was of a shade of lavender and there was an opening where the thing had an eye and seemed to be breathing. It was watching Naruto with a yellow eye and black pupil, staring at the blonde with wariness.

Naruto wondered how it would taste.

"I know Kotetsu," Ibiki held out a hand calming everyone.

The genin team tensed immediately and Ibiki saw the blonde activated his doujutsu.

"_So they're wary of genjutsu already… these three are experienced." _Ibiki lowered his hand. _"Those eyes… it seems as if the rumor is true. But he's not an Uchiha… maybe he_ is _an Uchiha bastard and the fox in him messed up the sharingan…" _

"I have two demands," Naruto said into the silence.

Ibiki's eyes widened.

"You have the guts to make a demand in a situation like this?" Kotetsu said incredulously. "You're surrounded by twenty chounin and a jounin who's the head of the interrogation and torture squad. You might die at any second and you make a demand?"

Naruto stabbed the kunai a bit closer to the chounin's temple in his grasp.

Kotetsu growled before muttering, "I can't believe a genin just took a chounin hostage… and they're both from Konoha nonetheless."

"First," Naruto muttered. "This will have no effect on my team's exam. We will not fail for this outburst."

"Fail?" Ibiki narrowed his eyes. "I can get you three into jail in the blink of an eye."

"You're welcome to try." Naruto replied dryly.

"You cocky shit-" began the chounin that Naruto was holding by his hair with the kunai touching his temple.

Naruto stabbed a bit deeper with the kunai penetrating the bandages wrapped around the man's face.

The chounin shut up.

"Next…" Naruto muttered. "When I drop this man we will all act as if nothing had happened. I didn't take a chounin hostage and my teammates did not leave their chairs. We will not be swarmed by you twenty something chounin."

"Boy," Ibiki began. "If you think I'm going to give in to your demands,"

Ibiki saw the look in his eyes.

He couldn't help it.

He kind of liked the gutsy blonde.

Ibiki grinned from ear to ear. "Done."

"WHAT?!" Every chounin and genin screamed out.

"The choice is mine to make," Ibiki gestured at the genin telling them to put their weapons away. They obeyed though reluctantly.

"Besides…" Ibiki touched the bottom of his lips with his gloved hands. "I want to see how far these little brats can get."

The other chounin returned to their seats with narrowed eyes.

Naruto released his hostage very slowly.

The chounin whipped around a fist in the process of heading towards the blonde's face.

Naruto turned so that he faced away from the chounin and kicked up wards with his foot, aiming with its sole towards the man's wrist. His kick left behind shadowy chakra in a trail behind the path of his kick.

Both strikes were caught.

"That's enough… genin." Ibiki turned his eyes towards the blonde and the amusement had gone out of them. "I will not tolerate your actions anymore. One more offense and our promise is void."

Naruto narrowed his eyes and nodded at Ibiki's hand that was holding his ankle.

"_If he tried to block the kick by the sole itself… smart." _Sasuke deactivated his sharingan and put his kunai away.

Ibiki released the blonde.

He turned to the chounin.

And backhanded him with a clenched fist so hard that the chounin fell from his feet, falling backwards on his butt.

"You should be ashamed of yourself," Ibiki whispered though everyone heard. "Getting taken hostage by a bunch of green horns…"

Something black exploded through the window.

Anko spread her limbs from the little ball that she was, throwing a kuna with each hand. Her kunai stabbed the uppermost corners of the cloth holding it up in place. The cloth was black with white letters.

"I'M ANKO MITARASHI AND-" She paused seeing the ruined wreckage of the desk and Kakashi's students standing. She looked at Ibiki who looked annoyed at her. She looked at the chounin who seemed pissed off about something.

She cocked her head to the side.

"Did I miss something?"

…..

Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose. _"I'll never hear the end of this…" _

Asuma was laughing next to him.

"HE TOOK A HOSTAGE!" Asuma slapped his thighs unable to hold his laughter. "WHAT AN IDIOT! NOW THE WHOLE GROUP'S GOING TO LYNCH HIM! AHAHAHAHA!"

"You know in Naruto's case," Kakashi interjected, looking at Asuma through his fingers. "That's not funny."

Asuma stopped immediately.

"Uh… sorry about that."

Kakashi smiled. "No need to apologize. Naruto can more than take care of himself."

"I'm still surprised that your squads teamwork is up to such a level," Asuma resumed his serious side once more. "I expected Naruto and Sasuke to have some level of teamwork but… Sakura got Sasuke's message with just a look. It's like they have telepathy or something."

"Usually you need to spend a lot of time with your partners before that happens," Kurenai said behind them, her arms crossed beneath her chest. "Or go through countless life and death experiences together…"

"Those types of situation forge a bond because they need it to survive." Gai was sitting on the other side of Kakashi his arms over the sofas backrests.

"_They remind me of my old team…" _Kakashi thought with fondness. _"Albeit we had a war to fight." _

Kakashi sighed. "They went through enough life and death situations in the wave country mission. Also that mission to catch Mizuki helped out Sasuke and Sakura's communication skills as well. I'm not surprised at this."

"But are you surprised at Naruto's actions?" Asuma lit a cigarette, his hands cupping the tip. "I've never seen something like that before. He's got balls that one."

"Rather than that," Gai's eyes were glued to the screen, frowning slightly. "Did you see his eyes?"

Kakashi grunted.

The other jounins turned their attention to the copy cat ninja.

"So Kakashi," Gai muttered. "Mind explaining it?"

"I wish I could." Kakashi mumbled.

"It looks a lot like the sharingan," Gai continued. "But it's not or he wouldn't have tried so hard to cheat during the test."

Asuma nodded at Gai's analysis.

"So what do you call it?"

Kakashi ran a hand through his hair. "I… we call it the **Tenshingan**." (Heaven God Eye)

"Who's we?" Kurenai was gaining more and more interest in the conversation.

"The Hokage and myself." Kakashi answered.

"Does Naruto know that's what you call it to?" Asuma took a drag, holding the cigarette between his index and middle finger.

"I told it to him," Kakashi shrugged. "He just… walked away without saying anything."

"Disrespectful little brat isn't he?" Though Kurenai's tone was acidic her face held the hint of a smile.

Kakashi laughed.

"You have no idea."

….

Anko heard a scream from the forest of death.

She smirked.

"Already huh?"

AN: END! I'm going to update this story for awhile. I decided that instead of spreading my attention across multiple stories I need to concentrate on one. Since I'm stuck with my other story, Curse of the Samurai, I'm going to take this past the chuunin exams at least before I update the others. REVIEW PLEASE!


	6. I'll Kill You

AN: Here we GO. Review answers are at the end.

….

Sakura looked back.

"T-That was a scream?" She whispered her eyes shifting from side to side. "R-Right?"

Naruto nodded at the girl frowning and closing his eyes trying to discern which direction the scream came from. Sakura and Sasuke remained quiet while Naruto did his thing. After a moment the blonde opened his eyes and shook his head.

"There's too many other things in the forest," The blonde kneeled on one knee. "I can't differentiate between them. Sorry."

Sasuke nodded expecting as much.

"I-I'm starting to get a little nervous." Sakura confided in the two looking around. "I-I mean… t-this is the real thing right? W-we can die here." She laughed, a nervous edge lined in her tone.

Naruto looked at his two teammates.

Sakura was beyond nervous. She had become paranoid. Comprehension dawned on the blonde as he realized what the pink haired knoichi was going through. They had never been placed in such a dangerous situation before. Kakashi was always their supervisor always nearby to jump in and rush to their aid at the slightest sign of danger. Not to mention that Sakura was always the one who was behind the three, acting as back up for them. But now she was the third member of the team without Kakashi there to protect her. Other teams had the exact same number of squad members as them. This meant that Sakura had to pull her own weight if she didn't want her teammates to suffer because of her.

Sasuke was a bit better then Sakura though the full extent and weight of the exam was starting to have its toll on him. The Uchiha Heir looked down at his hands knowing that the test was not like anything that he had experienced before. There would be killing in this exam and he knew that he would not always be the one who did the deed. If he lowered his guard for even a moment he would not only be putting himself in danger but his teammates as well.

"_We need to come out of this alive." _Sasuke looked at Naruto and Sakura. "We need to decide who's going to hold onto the scroll."

Naruto nodded at the Uchiha. "Agreed. Better to reach a consensus now."

"W-why is that important?" Sakura asked.

"Because of the nature of this exam." Naruto explained. "Because the point is not to defeat the other teams, but to gather the counter part of our scroll."

"In our case," Sasuke interjected. "We have the heaven scroll."

"I still don't understand." Sakura looked at Naruto. "Shouldn't one of you two have it?"

"No." Naruto answered. "Think about it. I'm the obvious choice and Sasuke's the second best. Therefore they'll concentrate their attacks on us. It doesn't matter how strong we are. If we're attacked by three different shinobi at once, even if we can fend them off, one of them will be able to take the scroll from us even without defeating us."

"So we need to keep them from knowing who holds the scroll." Sakura muttered as understanding dawned upon her. "That means…"

Naruto traded a mutual nod with Sasuke.

The Uchiha reached into his shirt and took out a scroll. "Here Sakura. You hold onto it."

Sakura's eyes widened.

"I'm a close ranged fighter," Naruto kicked the ground softly with his toe. "I'll be in contact with the enemy more than both of you guys. Plenty of chances for them to steal the scroll."

"They know that so I'll be the next obvious choice." Sasuke handed the scroll to Sakura, his dark eyes looking into her green. "That's why you have to hold onto it."

"No one will ever suspect that you'll be the one holding it." Naruto muttered. "But that also makes you another obvious choice. Stick close to Sasuke and protect the scroll with your life."

"Even if they know that you have the scroll," Sasuke reassured his nervous looking teammate. "They won't be able to concentrate their attacks on you since Naruto and I'll be protecting you."

"Don't worry too much about it, just make sure you don't drop it or anything." Naruto finished, giving the Haruno a stern look.

Sakura looked at the scroll that her teammates had placed into her hands.

It was more than just a scroll or a mission.

They were placing the success of their mission to her. They were not only extending their trust to her, but placing trust in her capabilities as a ninja. They weren't treating her like someone that should be protected, of course they said they would but not because she was weak but because she held the scroll. They had made it obvious that she was the weakest of the team yet by giving her the scroll they were placing their trust in her abilities. They were saying that even if she was weak compared to them, she wasn't useless. That she had a purpose and a place in the squad and that they had faith in her abilities enough to give her the scroll.

They were choosing to believing in her.

Sakura looked down on the ground unable to meet the gaze of her teammates.

"Thanks guys." She whispered.

"Don't thank us yet." Naruto whispered right back.

Naruto disappeared in an instant his black chakra swirling around him like trails of smoke.

There was a blur behind Oboro as Naruto flickered into existence behind him.

Oboro was an ame ninja with spiky black ahir and dark eyes. He wore a yellow jumpsuit that was stitched upthe middle. He wore the forehead protector so that it covered his whole dead, four vertical slashes indicating his status as a amegakure ninja. There was a sash around his head with two holes for his eyes. There was some kind of breathing apparatus attached to his mouth that warped his voice a bit when he spoke.

"_Body flicker," _Oboro dodged to the side on all fours, reminding Naruto of some kind of bizarre insect. Naruto's heel slammed into the ground where the ame ninja had been creating a crater and sending a circular wave of black chakra from the point of impact. _"Strong too." _

Oboro leapt to the side throwing a few knives at the blonde. Naruto crossed his arms in front of him, leaving a trail of black chakra. The knives stabbed into layer of black chakra before it dissipated, dropping the weapons into the dirt.

"_What was that," _Oboro ran up the trunk of a tree throwing more knives at the blonde who kept moving his arms, palms facing outwards, leaving trails of black chakra which caught the knives well before it reached Naruto. _"He's using chakra to catch my knives… is he using a water release technique?" _

Naruto caught the weapons using a layer of chakra, throwing them on the ground when the smell of burning paper reached his nose.

His eyes widened as he looked at the ground. The rain genin had thrown in a few kunai into the mix with explosion notes tied around the loop.

Explosions littered the area causing a resounding boom as the blonde leaped away spinning away like a corkscrew, smoke surrounding him body.

"Don't let him get away!" Naruto yelled to his teammates whom were running towards the battle. "He heard everything!"

Sasuke leaped upwards and began to run up the tree chasing the rain ninja while forming hand seals.

"Fire Release," Sasuke put a hand to his mouth, his chest swelling. "Phoenix Sage Fire!"

Sasuke began to breathe in rapid bursts, creating a volley of small fireballs flying towards the rain ninja.

Oboro leaped off of the tree as the balls of fire exploded on contact with the trunk on which he had been standing on. Oboro flipped in the air numerous times before landing on the ground and looked up, seeing Sakura standing a few feet away from him.

Oboro disappeared from where he was standing, running towards the pink haired kunoichi.

"_Lucky," _Oboro reached with his hands behind him, grabbing three knives, holding them in between his fingers. _"I'll kill her and take the scroll." _

Naruto's heel, trailing black chakra, slammed into the back of Oboro's neck, slamming the ame shinobi face first into the ground. Oboro's body hit the ground with enough force to send cracks along the surface in every direction.

"_Dammit…" _Oboro coughed as blood spilled out of his breather. _"I knew he was strong but… to think that one hit would end me…" _

Naruto picked up a knife on the ground that Oboro had dropped, kicking the other two away from the genin's grasp. He put the knife on Oboro's neck.

Oboro looked up staring right into Naruto's Tenshingan.

"I could sense your hostility," Naruto whispered the two triangles in each eye rotating while revolving around his pupil at the same time. "Don't move."

Sasuke landed on the other side. "Naruto's the best sensor among us genin. You won't get away."

Oboro's hand whipped around to his kunai pouch.

Naruto was faster.

The blonde threw the knife, stabbing through Oboro's hand and pinning it to the ground.

"I said," Naruto whispered. "Don't move."

Oboro gasped in pain, the sound of his breathing amplified by his breathing apparatus.

Sasuke hunched down in front of Oboro, his Sharingan active.

"_This one has a doujutsu too…" _Oboro closed his eyes. _"They're going to use a genjutsu to get me to spill information…" _

Naruto stepped on the knife that held Oboro's hand twisting his feet as he stabbed the knife deeper into the dirt.

Oboro gave a muffled scream opening his eyes in shock.

Sasuke's Sharingan was waiting for him.

Oboro froze as the world was plunged into darkness. Naruto and Sakura, even Sasuke disappeared. The two Sharingan that Oboro had stared into were the only things shining in the darkness, growing larger and larger by the second. The two tomoes in each eye began to spin faster and faster creating a pseudo ring around the pupil. Oboro tried to close his eyes but felt the effects of the genjutsu restraining him from doing so. As Oboro watched the Sharingan began to multiply, growing bigger and more numerous, each eye pointed at him. Though Oboro couldn't see he knew that there were eyes behind him filling up the darkness. The eyes began to grow closer to Oboro until they touched him, assimilating into him, turning his body into nothing but a bunch of sharingan on the surface.

Sasuke released Oboro's hair from his grip, allowing the drooling genin to face the floor once more.

"He doesn't have the scroll." Sasuke looked at Naruto and Sakura. "One of his other teammates has it."

Naruto sat on the side, having his arm bandaged by Sakura. The explosion from earlier had been set off before the blonde could fully escape the blast radius. A few splinters from the tree roots below as well as stray rocks from the debris cut across the blonde's arm, ripping cloth and the skin beneath leaving long lacerations on it.

"Anything else?" Naruto asked nodding at Sakura and moving his shoulder making sure the bandages weren't on too tight.

Sasuke shook his head. "He came here alone to hide better. He doesn't know where his teammates are."

"But he does know when and where they're supposed to meet back up." Finished Sasuke with a smirk.

Naruto got up giving a silent look of thanks to the Kunoichi. "Let's go then."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

"_Enemy," _In one fluid movement the blonde took the knife out of Oboro's hand throwing it behind him. The knife was thrown with such force that when it hit the tree branch, it sank up to the hilt.

There was a breeze.

Naruto felt something cut across his cheek. Frowning, the blonde put the back of his hand to it, feeling something warm and wet. He looked at his hand covered with a thin layer of blood.

His eyes widened.

"TAKE COVER!" Naruto yelled jumping straight up into the air.

Sasuke and Sakura obeyed immediately both of them jumping in opposite directions. As soon as the two hid behind large trees a huge gust of wind came through the area, knocking down smaller trees and throwing debris everywhere. Sakura shrieked and covered her head hunching down as the tree that she was hiding behind began to be uprooted. Her shriek was lost in the sound of the veritable squall which was mowing down everything in its path. Sasuke stuck to the tree with chakra when he saw the roots beginning to be taken out of the ground from the sheer force of the storm of wind. The fore of the wind storm began to grown stronger and stronger until the final wave came, knocking down trees that were hundreds of feet tall and creating a bald spot in the forest of death. Sasuke and Sakura blocked their ears as the sounds of trees screaming and the wind storm combined threatened to burst their eardrums.

Sasuke crawled out of a small crevice created by fallen trees. He looked around himself to find that most of the trees in the clearing had been toppled over to created a spot without anywhere to hide. It was more like a plain now covered with dirt and huge trees creating mountains and shadows alike. The Uchiha watched as Sakura came out from beneath a pile of trees, blood on her forehead.

"S-Sasuke-kun," Sakura gasped as he walked up to her and helped her up. "Are you alright?"

Sasuke grunted before looking around the rubble. "Where's Naruto?"

Sakura gulped. "You mean Naruto-kun?"

Sakura gasped, leaping to the side as Sasuke threw a kunai at her.

"Sasuke-kun what are you-"

Sasuke skidded across the ground backwards throwing a few more kunai towards the kunoichi. Sakura somersaulted backwards using one hand, dodging the barrage of weapons. She mimicked Sasuke's movements, skidding across the ground backwards.

"What have you done with Sakura?" Sasuke growled.

Sakura smirked crookedly, an expression that did not belong on her face.

She exploded into smoke.

The smoke cleared away leaving a tall man wearing a large straw hat. He had long black hair that reached his back, two strands of hair that framed his face. He was wearing a white robe with a rope tied around his waist making a knot at the back. He wore a long sleeved bblack shirt and a long sleeved pair of pants of the same color. He touched the rim of his straw hat, taking it off so that it hid a part of his face. Sasuke noted the Hiate wrapped around the man's forehead with a jagged line creating a mountain looking picture. He knew the insignia as belonging to Kusagakure no Sato, the Village hidden in Grass.

"How did you know that I was a fake?" There was a tone of amusement in the man's voice.

"Sakura would never call Naruto, Naruto-kun." Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"I see," The grass ninja threw the hat away sending it pirouetting to the side. "I should have known such a cheap trick wouldn't have worked against you."

Sakura landed next to Sasuke leaping over the fallen trees. Even though they had been uprooted from the ground, they were still tall enough to rival the height of most buildings. She looked around for the blonde before focusing her look on the opponent in front of her.

He looked right back at her.

Sakura swallowed. _"There's something creepy about this one…" _

Sasuke stiffened next to her.

The man reached a hand into his cloak, taking out a scroll with the kanji for Earth engraved on the center.

"You guys have the heaven scroll right?" The kusa nin held the scroll out towards them giving them a better look at the kanji for it. "That means you guys need this scroll."

He tossed it up into the air.

The man's head slithered out like a snake's, elongating for just an instant, snatching the scroll out of the air in his mouth, his tongue coiled around the whole length of the scroll. He put the tip of his finger on the other end of the scroll and pushed the scroll down his throat which bulged visibly and then lessened again.

Sakura was reminded of a snake swallowing its prey whole.

The man's face was still pointing up towards the sky his hand held over his mouth after having pushed the scroll through it. He spoke, his neck facing towards them.

"Then let's begin this battle to take each other's scrolls," The man lowered his head, one finger pulling his eyelid lower giving them a good look at his veins. "With our lives on the line."

Sasuke ducked as his skin was tore in a dozen different places.

Not cut.

Torn.

His skin was literally ripped open as blood exploded out of the wounds. Pain assaulted his senses and his sharingan was rendered useless as the only thing that he could see in his vision was red, the flowing red of his own blood. He kneeled on the ground supporting his torso with his hands as his skin continued to be torn open, blood lining the ground and spurting out in spontaneous bursts. He gasped and retched, blood rushing out in a torrent of scarlet as the world spun around him, the taste of iron filling his mouth.

Sasuke opened his eyes breathing quickly as a kunai entered his forehead.

He heard Sakura's whimper next to him.

Sasuke fell to his knees staring at the sky wondering if he was alive. Slowly, almost as if his arm was no longer under his control, he touched his forehead feeling his feverishly hot skin. He stumbled around with his fingers for the kunai that he was just killed with but couldn't find one.

The smell of urine reached his nose.

Sasuke turned his head to the side in tiny little jerks, almost as if his body was going through a seizure. He swallowed and looked at Sakura who was staring straight ahead with steaming liquid pooling beneath her legs through her skirt. Her arms were limp, held at her sides, her knuckles on the ground. She was breathing in short little gasps letting out a whimper every now and then. The kunoichi was shuddering to boot as tears dripped down her chin and onto her knees, creating a pool of urine and tears.

Sasuke retched onto the ground though on the bright side it wasn't composed of blood this time.

Sasuke reached into his holster and took out a kunai, his hand still trembling and shaking with the after effects.

"_Move…" _The Uchiha Heir couldn't even find the energy to scream though it was in his own head. _"Come on… move…"_

Orochimaru smiled. _"Have not given up yet eh?" _He narrowed his eyes.

Sasuke watched as Orochimaru's arm flicked forward like a snake, throwing something towards them.

Sasuke's eyes changed into the Sharingan.

"_MOVE!" _

Two kunai sailed by the exact spots where Sasuke and Sakura's foreheads were, sinking into the fallen tree trunk behind them.

Orochimaru took his time in walking to the ground where Sasuke and Sakura had been kneeling in. He stopped in front of the two pools of liquid. One was composed of urine which was assaulting the man's sensitive nose. Orochimaru's eyebrow twitched as the smell got stronger but he smiled when he turned his gaze to the other pool of liquid, its smell which was much more to his liking.

A pool of blood.

"_He erased his fear," _Orochimaru looked up at the pile of trees, slightly tilting his head. _"With pain… as I thought, this one's different from the others." _

Sasuke grunted in pain as he took the kunai out of his leg, the stab wound spurting out a splash of blood into the air.

Sakura woke up from her daze.

Though the area was still laced with killing intent, it was no longer focused on the two genin as much anymore. She shook her head to either side, her sweat flying off of her. She gulped and felt the wetness of her leggings, noting their warmth. She barely registered it however when she looked at Sasuke's expression and his wound.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura gulped finding her voice again. "Are you-"

Sasuke's hand whipped out covering her mouth.

"Quiet!" He hissed, his eyes filled with something that Sakura had never seen before.

Fear.

Sakura had never seen fear in Sasuke like this. She had seen jealousy, anger and even sadness in the Uchiha's eyes. She had seen a type of fear in his eyes before during the Waves Mission when they had met Zabua for the first time. But that had been fear of death. This was a different type of fear.

She knew because she had just experienced it.

It was not a fear of death, but a fear of something more than that. This fear didn't just dig in skin deep but much deeper than that. It was the fear unlike anything she had ever felt before. It wasn't like how one feared the darkness or suddenly got their hackles up when seeing something much larger than them. But the way the man had stared at them, the way that he had spoken at them and the way that he had revealed his killing intent at them gave them a different type of fear. It was the fear of perversion, the fear that this man was once something like them but now he was something different. It was the fear that he was someone who wouldn't let them die, but keep them alive and torture them only to fix them up and torture them again. He was a perversion of humanity, that he had stepped off that road. It was like facing the fear of a monster that was once them.

That they could become like it.

That it would turn them like it.

It was a predator. Through and through.

It liked to play with its food before eating them.

Sakura's eyes widened as a snake slithered down right in front of her, staring intently at the back of Sasuke's head. Sakura gripped Sasuke's wrist pulling it down.

"SASUKE-KUN!" She screamed.

Sasuke and Sakura reacted at the same time as the Snake's head whipped forward biting the trunk that was behind Sasuke's head. The two leaped away in opposite directions watching as the trunk was crushed into splinters between the snake's jaws.

The snake quickly recovered, twisting around the tree far faster than any other normal snakes could, reaching the height of Sasuke's jump with its jaws wide open.

Sasuke's eyes widened.

The snake hissed and killing intent that was rolling around the area like a fog twisted together, changing into a razor sharp point drilling into Sasuke's psyche.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Sasuke screamed, something inhuman lining his voice, as he reached into his holster once again then flicked his hands forward throwing multiple kunai and shuriken towards the snake.

The blades tore into the snake's jaws, tearing through its head and skin. However some of the kunai and shuriken stabbed into the snake, carrying its head towards the trunk and pinning it there.

Sasuke landed on a fallen branch which was pointing straight upwards, sticking on it with his hand and one foot.

The skin right underneath the snake's jaws cracked and ripped open, the grass genin coming out of it as if it was hatching from an egg.

Sasuke gasped as the killing intent reached a whole new level.

"Kukukukuku…" The man laughed his eyes staring at Sasuke and only at Sasuke. "If you relax for even a moment… that might mean your death."

Sasuke watched, frozen by fear once again.

The man climbed the tree that the snake was pinned to, twisting around it like a snake. He traveled fast enough to leave after images of himself, leaving an image of himself as half man and half snake, slithering upwards in a bizarre movement.

An arc of black chakra sailed through the air, splashing against the tree trunk forcing Orochimaruto stop.

"I'm late," The blonde walked out from beneath a trench made by a few tree trunks, black chakra leaking from every part of his body. He looked around at the fallen trees and the various weaponry littering the area. He turned his gaze towards Orochimaru. "Did I miss something?"

Orochimaru smirked. "Looks like you defeated my little pet snake eh?" He had his legs gathered together, wrapped around the tree branch he was lying on as if his whole body was made of rubber. _"Not a single wound… he's skilled." _

"_Naruto's here… no… it doesn't matter…" _Sakura gulped. _"The level is far too different… Even all three of us together…" _

"Naruto…" Sasuke looked at the blonde feeling a small pool of hope well up within him.

"Come down here you son of a bitch," There was no tone of anger or any other emotion in the boy's voice.

Only promise.

"I'll kill you."

Orochimaru smirked. _"This boy… might be interesting to play with." _He looked at the trunk above him. A huge chunk of the tree was missing, exactly in the shape of the arc. _"An Unique type of chakra eh?... perhaps I've found another potential vessel here…" _

Orochimaru leaped down, uncoiling from the tree branch in an instant, landing a few yards away from the blonde.

"You want to try your skills against me boy?"

Naruto didn't answer.

He rushed him.

"Confident in taijutsu eh?" Orochimaru readied himself. "I'll show you not to mess with your elders."

Naruto spun halfway, throwing a kick behind him towards Orochimaru's chin. The sannin simply weaved his head to the side, allowing the kick covered in shadow to sail by him harmlessly. The blonde pointed his toe outwards, changing the range of his kick and snapped his leg downwards catching the sannin on the shoulder.

He pushed.

The upper part of Naruto's toe was on the sannin's shoulder and using that as a base he lifted his whole body up, sailing backwards into the air getting himself behind the sannin. The blonde lifted his other leg straight up while sailing up in the air and slammed his heel straight down on the back of the snake user's head while falling towards the ground, creating a small explosion of black chakra.

Orochimaru opened his mouth and hands parted the corners of it, before a new being emerged into existence, identical to its birth mother. Orochimaru, covered in slime and fluids, shot out of the shell's mouth flicking his hand towards Naruto, his hand pointed like a snake.

The blonde jumped upwards off of the shell, creating a layer of shadow above the air of his palms. He hit the kunai out of the air chasing after the snake.

Orochimaru rolled up the sleeve of his left arm, showing an intricate seal engraved in black on his skin. He bit his thumb, rubbing the blood over the seal.

"Summoning technique," He whispered as the air below him exploded into smoke.

The snake was huge even by Naruto's standards. It's jaws were wide enough to swallow a tree whole and the fangs in its mouth were dripping with purple venom. The snake coiled around a tree as it protested underneath the reptile's weight. It hissed, sending a few stray drops of venom onto the ground where they steamed, melting whatever it had touched.

The serpent lunged towards Naruto, its jaws wide open.

Naruto had no way to dodge it. He had already leaped after the snake ninja and this was the price for it. Sasuke and Sakura were too far away to help. Even if they threw something, a moving kunai or a shuriken would not help him here, it would be too unstable and the snake would be able to alter course in a single instant. Naruto watched as the jaws came to him closer and closer, its spittle flying backwards form the momentum of the predator.

Naruto watched, Tenshingan active, trying to think of a way out.

"_Calm down," _Naruto told himself as time seemed to slow before him. The jaws were close enough so that he could see the pieces of leftover meat between its fangs. _"There's a way out of this… how can I protect people like me if I'm dead? There's a way out of this… my destiny is not to die here… there's something I can do… maybe I can create a sphere of chakra as it swallows me…" _

He glanced at the melted ground.

"_No… it's venom would drip through and kill me. If I'm not mistaken its gas form is just as deadly too. Not to mention its jaws are probably strong enough to simply crush through me. I have to escape. I need a foothold… something to jump off of… something solid and-" _

The blonde's eyes widened.

"_Something solid." _

Naruto tensed gathering all his chakra into one place in his body that he always did. It was similar to his ranged attack, shooting out an arc of chakra but this was a bit different. Instead of shooting out something, he was trying to create something that would last for a second or two at least. He couldn't have it fly away from him, he needed it to be stationary and solid enough for him to step on. Naruto imagined a round plate in his head, expelling chakra to his feet.

The snake's jaws were upon him.

Naruto suddenly changed direction, jettisoning upwards as the Snake closed its jaws in empty space.

Naruto, after gathering chakra into his feet, had expelled it. Because his chakra already had some solid properties he was able to step off of it, jumping upwards. Orochimaru saw a small flat circle of chakra, the center exploding as the blonde jumped off of it.

The snake hissed and looked upwards its jaws open to catching the falling prey.

Naruto's heel crashed into the bridge of his nose far away from where the snake sannin was standing on. Naruto's kick forced the jaws shut, its forked tongue half way out on the side of its mouth, blood spraying out wildly. The serpent's eyes bulged so much that Sasuke and Sakura thought it was about to pop out. Naruto carried the snake's head, slamming it into the ground, a line of black chakra following the trail of his kick from the impact to the landing. There was a noticeable crunch as something broke, most likely a part of the reptile's skull and smoke engulfed it once more signaling its disappearance.

Orochimaru landed on the ground more gracefully than the blonde who created a small shockwave of black chakra.

Naruto rushed towards the snake sannin.

"_This boy… this black chakra…" _Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.

Naruo jumped into the air and lifted his leg up. Rather than use his regular overhead kick where he attacked with the heel this was a Brazilian kick, where he raised his leg sideways and kicked downwards with his shin. Orochimaru lifted his arm blocking the kick and grunted at the weight behind it. Naruto pushed off of Orochimaru's arm landing on one feet then bent low, tracing the ground with his other feet using the heel with both arm on the ground attempting to sweep Orochimaru's ankles off of his footing. The Sannin jumped upwards, folding his legs beneath him and crossed his arms as Naruto exploded off of the ground slamming a knee into the guard.

Orochimaru skidded across the ground his arms still crossed.

"_He's got him." _Sasuke noted.

Naruto swung his left leg to the right then snapped his leg back towards the left again hooking the bend of his knee on Orochimaru's arms which were crossed in front of his chest. The blonde pulled himself up to the air, using only his left leg which were wrapped around Orochimaru's arms. The blonde's whole body lurched left as he attempted to slam his right knee into Orochimaru's temple.

Orochimaru swung his head back allowing the knee to sail by in front of his face. Naruto landed on the other side with his right leg as footing realizing that his back was exposed.

"_Shit." _

Orochimarus smirked.

"Let me show you a thing or two."

Orochimaru slammed an elbow downwards into the small of Naruto's back literally crushing the genin to the ground. The blonde hit the dirt chest first. The ground was hard enough to bounce Naruto up into the air about an inch when Orochimaru slid his toe right beneath the blonde's chin and kicked upwards. Naruto arced his back feeling himself airborne seeing the darkening sky of the night. Orochimaru's hand reached out and grabbed the back of Naruto's neck before kneeing him in the stomach, forcing the blonde to cough up blood. The snake sannin then kneed Naruto in his lower back causing the blonde to arc his body in pain. Just when Naruto arced his back Orochimaru kneed him in the stomach then when the blonde doubled over, he struck him in the back again repeating this process.

Sakura made a move when Sasuke held out a hand to stop her.

"Stop Sakura," Sasuke muttered. Orochimaru stopped punishing the blonde and looked at the Uchiha interested again.

Sakura looked at her crush, her eyes wide with shock. "He's going to kill-"

"He hasn't yet." Sasuke growled. "I've been looking for an opening to jump in and help Naruto but that guy… he's been luring in Naruto since the beginning. He left no openings. The moment we attacked we would have provided an opening for him to kill Naruto… that's how good he is. Right now he has Naruto's life in the palm of his hands."

Sasuke gulped. "Literally."

Sakura looked at Naruto who wasn't even conscious anymore. His face was cast downwards a drool of blood pooling at the ground. Naruto's shirt had been ripped off sometime during the scuffle and Sakura saw the angry purple and blue bruises forming on Naruto's stomach. She saw something like a black seal, a tattoo around his navel but it was covered by the swelling. His stomach was misshapen as if it had been permanently warped form the repeated strikes.

Orochimaru then kneeled, slamming Naruto face first into the dirt literally creating a crater using the blonde's head. Naruto's body arced in pain once more before going limp like a ragdoll.

Sakura gasped.

"He's still alive," Sasuke hissed. "Don't do anything stupid… or he's going to kill him."

Orochimaru smirked. "Now Sasuke-kun… what would you like to do?"

Sasuke gulped. _"This guy… is out of our league… forget Kakashi, this guy is a monster. He's not even human." _He looked at Sakura sending a silent message.

Sakura's eyes widened then turned her gaze towards the fallen blonde.

"I-I'll do it." She said, more to herself than to Sasuke. She reached into her shirt and took out the Heaven Scroll. She kneeled, placing it on the ground and backed away from it. "T-take the scroll…"

"But give us Naruto," Sasuke demanded. "And leave us alone."

Orochimaru's smile deepened.

"The only way to chase away a predator is…" Orochimaru hesitated for dramatic effect. "To give him a different thing to prey upon."

"Very smart Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and the killing intent began to roll off of him once more like storm clouds congregating in the distance. "But I don't want the scroll."

"I want you."

Orochimaru's neck stretched at an unbelievably fast rate, covering the distance between them in an instant. It was way faster than anything they had ever seen before, and that included the battles that they had fought up till now. One second Sasuke had been looking at Orochimaru talk to them and the next moment Orochimaru had bitten Naruto's neck who had somehow interposed himself between the two.

Sakura's eyes widened.

"NARUTO!" She screamed throwing a kunai from her holster ignoring what Sasuke told her only moments before. Luckily her aim was true and the snake sannin's head was forced to dodge.

Naruto collapsed sideways.

"_Naruto… Naruto… He killed Naruto…" _Sasuke's clutched both sides of his head. _"Naruto saved me… he just saved me… he killed Naruto… he killed… Naruto… Naruto… he saved me… Naruto… Naru-" _

"NARUTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOO!" Sasuke screamed into the sky, a bloodcurdling tone underlying the madness within it.

Orochimaru smirked as he leaped onto a fallen tree on all fours. _"He's snapped." _

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" Sasuke reached with both hands into his pouch as he ran towards Orochimaru, throwing a dozen shuriken and kunai at the same time.

Orochimaru slithered around the tree trunk, dodging the barrage of weapons when a few of them stabbed themselves into the trunk in front of him, making him hesitate for just a single instant. Sasuke took out a miniature fuuma shuriken throwing it towards the snake user. Orochimaru ducked and allowed it to sail by him harmlessly.

Sasuke jerked his head to the side, clenching something in his teeth. Orochimaru heard something humming behind his head and ducked immediately as the shuriken passed by him. The Uchiha Clan's Heir formed hand seals at a speed almost unparalleled to anyone else his age that Orochimaru had seen before.

"Fire Release," Sasuke snarled between his clenched teeth. "DRAGON FIRE!" Dozens of different flames came to life as they ignited upon the string clenched in his teeth, following the path towards the dozens of weapons that Sasuke had thrown moments before. Sasuke jerked his head to the side again, pulling the weapons out of the tree trunk and getting them into proximity of the snake sannin.

"_They were stabbed into the tree," _Orochimaru watched as a few burning weapons landed on the ground around him, some of them pulled with enough force to sail by him. _"There's no way he can work up enough momentum to hurt me… the worst he can do is burn me." _

His eyes widened.

All the weapons had an explosive tag attached to them which had been ignited with the fire technique that Sasuke had just used.

"_Shi-" _

A storm of fire exploded into life, greedily devouring the air around them. The resulting shockwave was severe enough to shake the ground, forcing the already exhausted Sasuke to lose his footing and fall on the ground to his knees. He shielded his face as splinters and a few embers flew by his face, leaving burns and scratches on his body.

Then something out of a nightmare emerged from the flames.

Fire still clung to his skin which was blackened beyond recognition. Horrible burn marks covered his body, making his skin raw and red in some parts, yet black in the other. His hair had been burnt off in the explosion leaving a freakishly warped looking head. The man's clothing were still on fire which flickered and spat live sparks into the air around him.

The man reached up gnarled fingers to the corner of his face.

Then to Sasuke's utter horror and disgust he ripped off his face.

The sound was something he heard when he used to crack open shellfish or crab pincers to get at the juicy meat contained within.

Sasuke threw up, the smell of his own puke assaulting his own nose and tasting the bile in his throat.

"_He saw my movements with those eyes… and that chakra tempered with power… that… hate," _Orochimaru shuddered in pleasure, something akin to an orgasm passing through his body. _"It seems as if I've found my vessel." _

Then he stretched his neck once more biting the Uchiha on the neck.

Sasuke froze, crippled with pain.

"Uh… ooo…. Ah…. Ah… AHHH.." Sasuke began to scream as something like fire began to spread from inside his body.

Orochimaru looked at Sakura, who was just staring at him with horror and fascination. He looked at the spot where he had bitten the blonde.

The cursed seal was already disappearing, seemingly turning into smoke and nothingness.

"_As expected," _Orochimaru returned his neck to normal, turning around from the three genin. _"The Kyuubi's rejecting my chakra…" _He smirked. _"But I imagine Naruto-kun will have an interesting experience because of it." _He looked back at the Uchiha who was going through spasms of pain on the ground, not even being able to scream.

"If you want the power to kill those who have done you wrong," Orochimaru smirked. "Come seek me… Uchiha Sasuke."

"My name… is Orochimaru."

Then he leaped away leaving them.

Sakura looked at Naruto, bloodied and bruised beyond recognition, his skin burning with feverish fire. Then she looked at Sasuke who seemed to be muffling his own screams, biting his fist so hard that it was bleeding. There was some kind of mark on Sasuke's neck from the place where the guy, now known as Orochimaru, had bitten him. Sasuke was having some kind of spasms and seemed to be having a seizure.

Sakura looked back and forth between the two.

"Sasuke… Naruto…" She whispered her psyche beginning to crumble under the pressure. "Sensei… what am I supposed to do… They're… They're going to… no… I couldn't prote-"

Sakura covered her face with her hands as tears, unwelcome and unbidden, began to fall from her green eyes.

"I'm so sorry," She whispered, sobs breaking her breathing as she began to hiccup. "I'm so sorry… Naruto… Sasuke… I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry…"

That was the first day of the exams.

…

"_**You're using it wrong." **_

_Naruto looked around himself, finding himself back in front of the cage where his demon was kept. The room was as dark as ever, seemingly an endless horizon with just a giant cage that occupied most of it. Naruto turned his gaze towards the cage finding the Kyuubi lying there, his paws crossed and resting his head on it, its tongue lolling about in its mouth. _

_The blonde glared at the fox before looking down at his body. It was no longer the bloody pulp it had been, returning to normal. Even his shirt was back on his body. Naruto touched it feeling the soft fabric just like he remembered it to be. _

_Then he realized it. _

_This wasn't just a place inside his mind, this was a world of his imagination. This was a place that did not just exist within himself, it was more than that. This was a place composed of his memories, personality and how his mind worked. The design of the cage, the darkness shrouding everything as well as the floor that looked and acted like water yet was harder than steel, it was telling him something. It was a place that he had created, that he could control and that was unique only to him. The clothes weren't real, they only felt like it because he remembered it to be. _

_This was his world. _

_Each thing here, the endless horizon, the liquid-solid floor as well as the cage that kept his demon within the confines of his mind represented something about his personality. Naruto continued to stare at his palms as realization dawned on him. _

_Whatever happened to him here would just be as effective to him in the real world but not vice versa. The clothes were as permanent to him as how he looked in the mirror by now. The fact that Orochimaru's bite mark wasn't on his neck anymore meant that whatever it was, it wasn't permanent. _

"_**You begin to understand." **__The Kyuubi growled. _

_Naruto actually didn't but he decided to take the compliment for what it was. The blonde turned to the fox. "Why am I here?" _

_Kyuubi nodded. Naruto had understood something. He wasn't brought here against his will unless it was for something important. _

"_**You are using it wrong." **__The Kyuubi repeated. _

_Naruto frowned. "What do you mean?" _

"_**The gifts I have bestowed upon you… you do not grasp their true significance." **_

_Naruto's eyes widened. _

"_**You wield your chakra like a hammer, destroying everything around you. You must hone it so that you slay those who you need to slay… and defend who you need to defend." **_

_The jinchuuriki looked at his hands, channeling chakra into it and seeing the shadows emerge like smoke. _

"_Hone it?" Naruto narrowed his eyes. "I did hone it." _

_The Kyuubi's smile seemed to widen. He licked his blue lips as if savoring a prey that he had yet to catch but he knew he would. _

"_**I'll show you the true power of your chakra." **_

_Its claw shot out of the cage forcing Naruto to jumped back a little. _

_The Kyuubis claw seemed to stab something in the air. The air where Kyuubi's claw was seemed to shake like a heat wave before something materialized within. The person looked a lot like the nina who had been attacking his team but not only, though very similar, because of his looks. They looked similar enough but it was more than that, it was the air around him, the look in his eyes. _

_The claw that had stabbed through his stomach was new though._

_From the place where the claw had pierced the man, black chakra began to leak through, covering Orochimaru from head to toe. Orochimaru opened his mouth as if to say something when the shadow covered his face as well, successfully engulfing the man entirely in darkness. _

_Naruto watched and hissed despite himself. _

_Kyuubi withdrew his claw from the corpse, allowing the new shadowy being to drop onto the floor. _

"_**You focus too much on control," **__Kyuubi licked the tip of his claw, peering at Naruto from the side of his eyes. __**"What you should focus on… is overwhelming power. I will not have my host dancing around like a powerless whelp. You are a being of power." **_

"_**Learn what it means to hold Power." **_

"_**Embrace it."**_

"_**Become Power itself, little one." **_

_The being that the Kyuubi had created was a sight similar to Naruto. The shadow peeled away as if it was a butterfly emerging from a cocoon. He had spiky red hair that reached a bit above his eyes. His skin was pale, almost as pale as the man called Orochimaru. His eyes were the same as the Kyuubi's, red with a black slit in the middle. He held his hands as if they were claws, gnarled near the fingertips. He was wearing a red colored battle robe resembling a kimono._

_Naruto gulped, watching some kind of warped more bestial version of himself. _

_Then it roared. _

_Its roar was unlike anything that Naruto had heard a beast make before. It was more like a scream. When it screamed it held its hands at its side facing up. Naruto saw the his mirror image's roar become visible, almost like a shockwave of red chakra that flew up into the air. The scream seemed to hold a thousand voices, men and women alike._

_Then it turned its eyes to the blonde, his eyes burning with rage and its mouth curled up into a feral snarl, canines exposed. _

_Naruto readied himself._

_The Kyuui's creation got down on all fours and loped towards Naruto at an unbelievable pace. One second he was hunching down, the next second he had appeared in front of Naruto, a fist planted in his stomach. _

_Or it would have landed if Naruto didn't put his guard up. _

_Naruto put his arms together and raised a single knee up, feeling the strike hit his shins. He hissed in pain as the beasts fist plunged through the layer of shadow he created a bit above his knees. In one smooth motion Naruto lowered that leg, balancing himself upon it while simultaneously raising his other knee in a sideways lunge towards the Kyuubi's temple._

_The demon just roared. _

_Its roar created a sphere like dome made purely of red chakra. Naruto felt his knee hit it, saw the black and red chakra react before the dome expanded pushing the blonde away. _

_Naruto skidded backwards, his arms crossed in front of him. _

_The blonde widened his eyes in shock. _

_The construct of his own self was on all fours and attached to its back was a single enormous construct made of pure red chakra resembling a wing._

_The wing wasn't like the little bat wings he saw in books. It resembled the angel wings he saw but there was a fundamental difference. Those wings made the beings look holy, majestic and proud. On the beast it looked ragged, dark and sinister. Rather than feathers, the wing seemed to be made out of crystal shaped chakra blades._

_Naruto knew what was coming. _

"_What the fuck…"_

_The beast roared and the wing like apparition on its back unfurled itself. _

_Then it began to shoot hundreds, if not thousands, of blades. _

_They were too big to call needles, since they looked more like a kunai without a handle. They were long and had a pointed edge on both ends so that it looked like two kunai that were connected by the handles. Each one was about only two feet long but just as deadly, if not more so, than real steel. They sunk into the ground, a few even peppering Kyuubi's cage and sinking themselves into the metal bars. _

_It was raining blades the color of blood. _

_The Kyuubi watched, resting his head on his paws with an almost bored expression. Sure he had created the construct but that didn't mean he was responsible for its choices or its actions. Orochimaru's cursed seal, though he didn't know the specifics of it, seemed to have a little tiny bit of consciousness of himself contained within. Kyuubi had spent thirteen long years in this prison and no matter how hard Orochimaru had tried to hide, Kyuubi had found him. He'd pumped the shadow full of his own chakra and added in a bit of Naruto's as well to create a suitable opponent for the boy. He had no idea what kind of moves the construct would be able to use but he knew it would lean more towards the Kyuubi's fighting style rather than the boys. The boy's teacher, Kakashi, was a fool. He knew how much chakra the boy had, yet he still stubbornly stuck to those routine chakra control training. _

_Naruto would do much better focusing on power. _

_Kyuubi's little construct was a bit weaker than Naruto, though the blonde might find that hard to believe. Even now, the Kyuubi almost didn't believe it. There were so many chakra blades raining down that it covered his vision. He sniffed, taking in the scent of warm blood. Of course it wasn't real but Naruto bled in the real world so it was only fair that he bled here too. He wasn't really bleeding, he simply believed he was._

_Kyuubi smirked as the rain of blades ended revealing a floor completely filled with thousands and thousands of stab holes as they began to disappear into the air like smoke. _

_There was a little circle of ground where there was not a single stab mark. _

_Naruo stood in the center of that circle breathing heavily his eyes wide. _

_Naruto saw the sky turn from the black of darkness to the red of blood as the blades rained upon him. He knew from before that nothing he could do or would do was sufficient to block that many blades. _

_He did the only thing that he could. _

_Just like his shadow image had done so only moments before, the blonde had screamed._

_Well… it was a bit more complex than that. _

_Naruto gathered his chakra first, concentrating on a place deep within his chest. He closed his eyes imagining a perfect black sphere in his head. He didn't just add on chakra to it, though. He kept the sphere constantly spinning in each side and added on chakra to it. That way, it was evenly spaced. The sphere wouldn't be stronger on one side and weaker in the other. It would be perfectly proportionate. When he saw the sphere become big enough in his mind Naruto imagined released the chakra. _

_It was a tingling sensation that spread from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. The chakra expanded within him, changing shape to press up against every single inch of Naruto's body from within. When Naruto screamed that was the signal for the chakra to escape all at once. The chakra was released from Naruto's body and attempted to stabilize itself. By stabilize, it meant that the chakra would try to go into a shape or form that was the most suitable for it. _

_In this case, the shape that it had initially been in. _

_A sphere. _

_Naruto barely saw it as a transparent sphere of shadow expanded from within him, blocking the blades of red chakra. _

_He kneeled on the ground on one knee, both his hands clutching his chest. _

"_Shit…" Naruto found himself cursing a lot lately. He wondered if that had anything to do with the crap that he had to go through for protecting his useless teammates._

_The beast growled, breaking the silence. _

_Naruto looked up, his Tenshingan completely active. _

"_**The Tenshingan allows you see its pressure points," **__The Kyuubi mused, almost to himself. __**"It gives you a sense of muscle and chakra movement. But nothing more. You asked for a eye that could see. Nothing else." **_

_Naruto nodded. "Come on you little shit,"" He got up, his body shaking with fatigue. "I'll show you and the fox something I've been working on." _

_Naruto's counterpart roared, sending another shockwave of red chakra into the air._

_Then it pounced. _

_Naruto traced a circle on the ground with his foot, throwing dirt in its eyes. _

_The Shadow Image fell to the floor, clutching its eyes automatically. Then recovering its sense of battle it attempted to leap backwards when Naruto wrapped both of his palms around the back of its head. _

_Then he kneed it in the chin._

_Naruto's knee, trailing black chakra, exploded in a circular wave as it hit, sending the red head flying backwards. In speed that seemed to be almost impossibly too fact, Naruto hooked the bend of his knee around the leg of his airborne opponent, snapping it back and slamming him face first into the ground behind him. Naruto jumped into the air while turning sideways, lifting up his other leg into a knee strike. _

_Naruo's strike exploded against the ground where the beast had just been. It roared at the blonde and began to gather chakra and Naruto saw the wing beginning to form, the crystal looking flat chakra blades forming upon his back. The crystals nearest to its back was only about a foot long but the ones farthest away from him were at least three or four feet, and almost half as wide. _

_Naruto appeared behind it, clutching something bloody in his hand. _

_The Kyuubi growled. _

_Naruto was holding the construct's head which was already dissolving into chakra once more. _

"_**That was…" **__The Kyuubi muttered. _

_Naruto kicked the headless body into the cage._

_The blonde watched, breathing heavily, as the creature slid across the ground rolling side over side into Kyuubi's cage._

_The fox looked down at it, a disgusted look in its eyes then it with deliberate movements, it touched the creature on the forehead with the tip of its claw._

_The body seemed to dissolve being absorbed into the claw._

_The Kyuubi cocked its head to the side, looking almost bored._

_Almost. _

_A faint smile touched his eyes. _

_Naruto's eyes returned to their regular blue._

"_**You Pass." **_

…_.._

Naruto woke up breathing heavily.

"He's awake at last."

Naruto looked around, trying to absorb everything at once.

Sakura lay on the side bloodied and beaten, her hair held by one of the Sound Genin that he beat up before the exam began. She had half a dozen stab wounds, on the front as well as the back. There were two kunai stuck in her thighs and a place near her collarbone. Her left eye was swollen, almost shut, with the swelling of a bruise. Her lip was busted and she had apparently lost her mouth functions since she was drooling like a doll.

Yet when her eyes met Naruto's something was there.

She had not given up yet.

"Mauto," Sakura's words were half garbled because of the swelling around her face. "Ooo, Ooor awag."

Naruto got up.

"Don't come closer," Zaku held the slim kunai to the back of Sakura's neck while holding her hair, one knee pressed against her back. Naruto frowned noticing that it was a lot shorter than before. He looked around to find pink hair scattered around everywhere.

"Or I stab this bitch in the back of her neck."

"Careful Zaku," Dosu muttered. He stood on the root of a tree, his arms hanging down in front of him like some kind of Primate. "This one's strong… we don't want to give him any openings."

The girl stood leaning on the gigantic root, her arms crossed.

She licked her lips while looking at the blonde.

"Let me take care of this."

Naruto looked at the three of them. He looked next to him to find Sasuke lying there unconscious.

He looked at Sakura, bloodied and beaten.

Black chakra began to form around him, emerging like smoke.

"You chose the wrong time to fuck around with me you bastards," The blonde tapped his shoes on the ground and looked up, three triangles in each eye rotating and revolving at the same time.

"Uzumaki Naruto…" Dosu growled watching the black chakra rise around Naruto like smoke.

"Don't say my name so casually you bastard," Naruto's face was devoid of all emotion and his voice even more so.

Kin shuddered despite her self.

"I'll Kill You."

AN: UPDATE! You like? I hope you do. This story's going somewhere… now if only I can do the same with the Curse of the Samurai. Honestly I enjoy the Naruto in Curse of the Samurai more if only because he's more fun but this one's alright too. He's kind of the Anti-hero you know what I mean? Review plz! I enjoy reading them! Also… heh heh heh… the part with the evil Naruto… you mean the part where he appeared behind him simply having beheaded him with nothing having happened?

It's Naruto's new Fighting style.

Yup.

It's not a move.

It's a FIGHTING STYLE.

Review!

– No…. Naruto didn't get Zabua's sword. I thought about it, trust me I thought about it REALLY hard. But I want this Naruto to be a hand to hand fighter and he has chakra that acts solid by itself already. HIS CHAKRA IS SOLID. HE DOESN'T GET ZABUZA's sword. I'm sure you can figure it out.

xXxLKxXx – Who's Menma?...


	7. I'm not a Feminist

AN: Wow… this story's getting more and more popular. To be honest I didn't think this story would be popular. This was targeted at very specific audiences who prefers the kind of anti-hero. Usually people prefer their hero to be either completely evil or completely good, but Naruto is full of contradictions, continuing to toe the line. His powers are unstable, constantly changing just like this personality. I usually like to write the witty, mouth-off-to-bad-guys Naruto. But this one is all action, sometimes to a unnecessary point. But I'm glad this story is receiving so many welcome.

Ok.

Enough of me.

Let's go. Review replies are at the end.

…

"I'll Kill You." Naruto muttered, his comment directed towards the three sound genin.

Dosu leaped down from the large uprooted tree root. He stood there, his arms limp in front of him reminding Naruto of a gorilla. The boy raised one arm up, the one with the weird metal contraption.

Naruto immediately activated his Tenshingan, growing three triangles in each eye that revolved around his pupil, rotating slowly. His pupil became a lighter shade of blue, almost white, while the triangles became darker in hue.

"_The Heaven God Eye…" _Dosu narrowed his eyes. _"Orochimaru told us to watch out but he didn't specify its abilities… it's better to avoid a confrontation with this guy." _

Dosu attempted to reason with the blonde. "Look," He rubbed the metal contraption with his other hand. "We're after Sasuke and Sasuke only…" Dosu glanced at the fallen Uchiha who was groaning in his sleep. "If you'd do us the favor of moving aside-"

"I can't do that." Naruto slightly shifted his weight, tracing the ground with one foot. "You hurt one of my teammates."

"I warned you about touching Konoha Shinobi." Black smoke began to waft from Naruto.

Dosu widened his eye. _"C-Cold… cold eyes…" _

"Back off blondie," Zaku growled, getting the tip of his kunai to bury itself a bit deeper into Sakura's back. She yelped as Zaku pulled on her short hair, revealing her bloodied and bruised face. "Or I kill her."

Naruto paused.

The black chakra subsided.

"_That's more like it." _Zaku growled to himself, digging his knee deeper into Sakura's back.

"_Those bastards…" _Naruto gritted his teeth calmly surveying the situation. _"Sakura's in an unrecoverable situation… Sasuke's out. If he was here he could at least put Zakuin a genjutsu or something. I don't have anything in my arsenal to recover Sakura safely without harming her. Zaku would kill her before I kill him… that coward…" _

Naruto frowned. _"That… coward…" _He looked at Zaku.

"If you kill her," Naruto whispered, his voice low.

"I'll kill you first before I kill your other two teammates."

Zaku breathed in sharply his eyes going wide.

"W-WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" He screamed, gripping Sakura's hair tighter. "I HAVE YOUR TEAMMATE HOSTAGE!"

"That's why I said," Naruto's voice was still the same cold tone his earlier statement had been delivered in. "I'll kill you if you kill her."

Dosu looked at Zaku who was beginning to panic.

"_He reversed the situation in a single instant," _Dosu gulped looking at the blonde. _"By proclaiming that he's going to kill Zaku first… he's put the fear of death into Zaku's heart. Now he's going to hesitate before killing the girl… it's not even like we're holding a hostage anymore. It's like he's holding Zaku hostage… and not everyone can make that kind of threat… we experienced his power first hand at the beginning of this exam. If he was anyone else we could have laughed it off but… we know he can do it." _

"Zaku…" Dosu looked at his teammate who was breathing heavily. "Maybe you should-"

"Dosu!" Kin snapped, interrupting the bandaged ninja.

"This is pathetic," Kin turned her gaze to the blonde in front of them. "There's no way he can take on all three of us… kill the girl and we'll take care of this clown."

"_Kin's so weak that she can't even tell that he's on a whole another level." _Dosu looked at his teammate as if she had gone crazy. "Kin," Dosu began.

"Enough!" Kin turned towards the blonde, reaching into her kunai pouch. "If you two are so scared I'll take of him myself… we didn't give it out all during the first part of the exam anyways."

"Kin wait-" Dosu tried again.

But it was too late.

Kin rushed towards Naruto throwing a few senbon in front of her.

Naruto ducked underneath them hearing the bells ring as they flew threw the air. He rushed towards Kin only to find that she was already in front of him, her body low to the ground and looking up at him.

"Trash!" She held her senbon between her knuckles and stabbed upwards towards Naruto's chin.

"KIN!" Dosu yelled.

Naruto's slammed the side of his palm, fingers half folded into her face, carrying the entire weight of his entire body. The blow slammed the back of Kin's head into the ground, throwing up dust, debris and sending cracks in various directions on the floor.

Kin splayed out, unconscious.

"_One strike…" _Dosu gulped.

Zaku was literally shaking.

Sakura spoke up from below him.

"Heh… I bet you're scared by now…" she muttered, her words intelligible despite the swelling all around her face. "He's not just the best sensor of Konoha… but he's one of the strongest genin of Konoha. With Sasuke-kun… their unbeatable."

"That's enough Sakura," Naruto knelt down placing his index and middle finger on Kin's neck. He looked at Dosu.

Dosu gritted his teeth. _"I warned her…" _

"I like this little development." Naruto taunted.

"Let her go." Zaku growled.

"I could say the same to you." Naruto answered Zaku much calmer than the sound genin. He turned back to Dosu. "So what do you suppose we should do?"

Dosu hesitated.

Then he narrowed his eyes.

"Kill her if you will," He muttered taking another step forward. "But you're not getting the girl back."

Naruto nodded. "Thought you might say as much." He turned towards Zaku. "If you touch the girl or hurt her in anyway, I'm going to kill you." The line was delivered in a calm tone as if he was stating facts.

Then Naruto flung himself forward, using his whole weight to punch the unconscious Kin in the stomach.

Though it had been limp moments before, Kin's body bounced up about an inch off of the ground from the impact, her eye opened as she spewed blood and drool out of her mouth. Naruto didn't stop there, hitting the girl in the stomach with another punch then another.

Zaku stared his hands shaking and eyes wide.

Dosu had never been more scared.

"_He doesn't even use the her as a hostage… He's just using her to mess with our minds. She's not the hostage… in reality, we're the hostage. The truth is he could kill her at any moment and the fear of death at his hand is still going to keep us from killing that pink haired girl." _Dosu trembled as a spray of blood escaped Kin's mouth, staining the ground red. _"This guy…" _

Dosu wasn't seeing a human being.

What he saw was a monster.

He wasn't doing this because he enjoyed it.

No… he did this because he could. There was no reasoning behind Naruto's physical abuse of Kin and Dosu. They all knew that she was useless to them. They were being tortured mentally, but Naruto could kill her and the situation would not change even one bit.

That was the overwhelming difference in strength between them.

Naruto finished, leaving the unconscious Kin to curl up on her side, her face covered in her own blood and vomit. She was shaking in little seizure like jerks, her eyes wide open and wet with tears. There was a pool of vomit as she turned to the side but the girl was beyond caring. She was staring at nothing, making animalistic noises. Somewhere along the beating she had lost her bodily functions and the acrid scent of urine assaulted Naruto's nose. The blonde looked at his hands, covered in little tiny dots of blood. He flicked them at the side, splattering the ground with the crimson liquid.

"H-How can you do this…" Zaku whispered, though it was loud enough for everyone to hear. "S-She's just a girl…"

Naruto looked at Zaku before answering,

"I'm not a feminist."

Dosu stared, unable to believe the blonde's response.

He looked down at Kin. "Besides… what you guys did to Sakura is much worse."

Sakura had turned her head towards the other side during the middle of the beating, unable to bear it. She knew that Naruto had a cruel side to his personality but this as something new. When Naruto was beating on the girl there had been a hint of the old Naruto that she met for the first time. The Naruto that was cold, the blonde that wasn't above breaking the rules to get what he wanted. The indifference in his eyes as blood exploded around him was something that she had never seen before. She had seen people enjoy violence and hurting others but… Naruto didn't. He didn't enjoy it.

She could have sworn that there was a visage of a black demon with red eyes, smiling and laughing behind Naruto while he had been doing the deed.

"You…" Zaku was shaking.

"Wait Zaku-" Dosu began.

But Zaku was beyond the breaking point.

"YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" Zaku screamed and slammed Sakura's face down to the floor, immediately rushing towards the blonde, his palms spread out.

Dosu rushed towards the pink haired girl that Zaku had just abandoned.

"_This fool… that girls existence is the only thing that's keeping us alive…" _Dosu passed by the enraged Zaku who was gathering chakra.

They both never took another single step.

Naruto appeared in front of Zaku and stabbed his hand, which was gnarled into a claw like shape, into the genin's shoulder. Naruto's hand, trailing black chakra, plunged through the meat and bone alike cause Zaku to scream in pain. But just as Zaku opened his mouth Naruto slammed the palm of his other hand into his chin, causing him to bite his own tongue. Naruto took his hand out of Zaku's shoulder and spun around him on one foot. He used the other leg to hook Zaku's neck on the bend of his knee, naturally bringing him off of his balance and forcing him to collapse to the ground. Naruto's leg, hooked around Zaku's neck while his head was near the floor, grabbed the kunai in the sound genin's hand using chakra on the bottom of his shoes. Naruto kicked forward sending the kunai flying towards Dosu's back.

Dosu heard the humming in the air before jumping up, allowing him to glance back once. His eyes widened in shock at the bloodied mangled flesh that had been Zaku's shoulder before he stuck to the tree using chakra. The thoughts of his teammates and the mission to kill Sasuke left his mind immediately. Those weren't even on his priority now.

He was being hunted.

Dosu felt sweat seep through his bandages and he ran up the trunk and heard something land behind him. He felt a beginning of a scream in his throat before he stifled it automatically, horrified that he had begun to scream without even realizing it. He knew he had to get away right now before the blonde caught up to him or he would be dead. His instincts told him that if he engaged the blonde, metal sound arm or not, he would lose and in more ways than one.

"You're not escaping from me." Naruto whispered in his ear.

Dosu lost his sense of hearing and sight immediately. It wasn't so much as 'lost' as opposed to 'overloaded.' He heard a echoing scream in his ears, high pitched and animalistic, which he recognized as his own voice later on. His vision swirled as everything became one gray hue, the trees the path in front of him and the colors all mixing to become black. He lost his sense of direction and touch, no longer feeling the solid tree trunk underneath him and even losing the will to fight back. No, he didn't lose the will to fight back. His head was a blank slate when Naruto's voice reached him, hearing nothing, seeing nothing and feeling nothing.

Dosu realized he was staring at the sky.

He sat up slowly, realizing that he had lost control of his bladder. He was shaking and when he looked at his hand it was trembling and he couldn't get it to stop. He shook, feeling cold realizing that his bandages were soaked and dripping with sweat. Dosu looked towards where Naruto was laying Sakura down in the bedding he himself was lying in only moments before. Dosu gulped.

That wasn't a genjutsu or any ninja technique. Naruto hadn't done anything to him except grab him by the neck and pull him off of the tree, slamming him face first into the ground.

Dosu had done that to himself.

It had been nothing but fear.

He felt as if he had just been hunted… as if he had been a helpless mice that had just been devoured by a snake.

No… not a snake.

A wolf.

Naruto spoke without turning around.

"Take your teammates and leave." Naruto wrapped bandages around Sakura's thighs, making sure they were tight enough. "Your teammate called Zaku should live… I didn't break anything. But he shouldn't use that arm… I ripped a chunk of his flesh out after all."

Dosu turned his gaze seeing Zaku lying right next to him. His shoulder was covered in a layer of bandages which were becoming redder from the bleeding. He looked on his other side to find Kin.

"I didn't actually hurt her that bad," Naruto finished tying Sakura's bandages and turned to meet Dosu in the eye.

Dosu flinched.

"I simply aimed at her pressure points... for pain. She should be fine." Naruto got up and took a scroll out from underneath his shirt. "I'll be keeping this."

Dosu nodded and got up from his place, tilting his head in Naruto's direction. He picked up Kin and Zaku on each shoulder, despite his legs shaking and trembling, and prepared himself to jump.

"Oh."

Naruto's voice made him stop cold.

"If you pull some kind of shit like this again next time…" Dosu began to sweat all over again.

"I'll seriously kill you."

Dosu nodded without turning around. He had a feeling that if he did…

He didn't want to know what would happen if he did.

Naruto watched as the bandaged shinobi left the clearing, shouldering both of his teammates. He turned his gaze back on the feverish Sakura and Sasuke whose pallor was growing healthier by the second. He closed his eyes for a moment straining his senses to make sure that they were alone.

"_That wasn't a real victory…" _He looked at his hand which was trembling. _"The damage from my fight with that snake guy hasn't worn off yet…" _The image of slamming the side of his hand into Kin's face returned to him. _"That took almost all I had… then the little bout with Zaku… if I didn't attack them psychologically before I attacked them… I would have lost for sure." _

"That wasn't bad."

Naruto immediately took out the kunai that was stabbed into the ground near him and threw them towards the source of the voice.

There was the sound of steel clanging on steel. One of his opponent had thrown a kunai with enough precision to hit his kunai right on the tip, sending both of the weapons pirouetting away and landing on the ground uselessly.

Naruto gulped seeing the three opponents.

In the center of was the genin that he remembered as Neji. The boy was standing on a large branch, his arms crossed and a confident smirk in his eyes. Judging by his posture he was the one who had initially called out Naruto.

Standing a bit away from him, a kunai in her hand near her held in a reverse grip near her face, was the girl named Tenten that he had met in the first part of the exams. She had a slight smile on his face as if she'd found something fun to play with. Naruto barely saw her finger twitch before the kunai that she'd thrown to counter his own flew up through the air back into her grip.

Lee sat above them. He sat crouching down on the branch and his arms in front of him. The swelling on his face from his earlier bout with Naruto had gone down considerably though there was still a big blue welt on his face. The taijutsu user was looking at Naruto, not with hate, but with something more akin to determination.

Naruto slowly brought himself to his feet.

"Don't bother." Neji leaped down, his long hair flying through theair. "With these eyes of mine I can see how your wounds… we saw the whole thing." He landed without a sound a few yards away from Naruto. "If they had kept their wits about them you would be… dead."

"_He's a doujutsu user…" _Naruto watched as both Lee and Tenten leaped down from the trees as well. _"I didn't sense their presence at all… this is bad." _

"We heard about what you did to Lee before in the exams." Tenten twirled a kunai in her hand, throwing it up in the air before snapping it mid flight in reverse grip. She held it right beneath her eye. "We don't like it when one of our own gets hurt."

Lee remained silent.

Naruto shifted his weight, his hand on his thigh exposing a single shoulder.

He barely saw the kunai that passed by his face, leaving a long cut on his cheek. He looked again to find the weapon in Tenten's hand gone, her arm stretched out a tell tale sign that she had just thrown it.

Tenten licked her lips. "Getting a little slow aren't we?"

"_The fatigue is getting to me…" _Naruto swallowed, channeling chakra into his eyes and activating the Tenshingan.

"Are those the eyes that beat you Lee?" Neji asked.

Lee frowned. "No… He…" Lee swallowed. "He didn't do anything like that when he fought me."

"So he was holding back." Tenten smirked. "Impressive. Looks like I was wrong when I thought the Uchiha was the strongest on your team."

Naruto's foot ground on the floor, making scratching noises.

"Not one for talk are you?" The weapon mistresses hands blurred once more.

Naruto weaved his head a fraction of an inch to the left and then the right in an instantaneous moment, allowing both weapons to sail by his face.

Tenten's smirk got wider.

"Come on you little bitches," Naruto snarled. "Or are we going to keep talking?"

Neji took a step.

A hand grabbed his shoulder.

Neji watched as Lee slinked out from behind him.

"This is my fight Neji-kun…" Lee took the stance in front of Neji, prompting the Hyuuga Genius and the weapons mistress to leap away giving him space for battle instinctively.

"I'll face him."

"_I've never seen Lee like this… It's almost like… no it's different." _Tenten glanced at Neji who looked slightly annoyed. _"Lee's treating Naruto like… he's Neji… he's almost ignoring Neji in favor of Naruto. That means in that one second encounter they had Lee sensed strength in Naruto that surpassed Neji's…" _

Naruto looked at Sasuke and Sakura who still lay unconscious. Then he looked back at Lee.

"I'm not going to hold back this time." Naruto lowered his stance. "This time… you might not get off with a broken nose."

Lee stomped on the ground as if snuffing out a cigarette.

"I apologize for underestimating you last time…" Lee swallowed. "But this time… I will acknowledge you."

Naruto nodded.

"Then let's begin."

With those three words Lee immediately rushed into action dashing towards Naruto, his body low to the ground. Naruto did the same but while Lee dashed forward, his arms behind him, Naruto took a misstep, using one hand to steady himself for balance.

Lee spun towards the right, bringing his right foot in a sideways arc towards Naruto's face. The blonde immediately reversed momentum, bending his torso backwards in almost a ninety degrees angle. The blonde brought his torso forward almost instantaneously slamming a palm strike, fingers bent, on Lee's temple. The green genin moved with the blow bringing his head dangerously low to the ground.

Naruto slammed his palm into Lee's temple crushing his head against the rocky floor.

"_Most people go for precise blows that pull back after contact," _Tenten had her arms crossed, calmly analyzing the battle. _"But he reacted almost instantly to Lee's movements… right after Lee moved with the blow, instead of pulling back, that guy pushed instead knowing that the ground was right there. This guy… just what kind of reaction speed does he have." _

Naruto, after slamming the side of Lee's head onto the floor, lifted that palm about an inch off of the genin's temple, only to slam it on the side of his head once more. Lee's head bounced about two inches off of the ground before his eyes literally rattled from the second impact. The genin shot out with a leg attempting to kick Naruto in the neck when the blonde turned to the side, allowing the kick to sail by him harmlessly.

Lee used one arm to jump off of the ground away from Naruto, somersaulting in the air. The blonde backed up, chakra trailing his hands.

But it looked different than before.

Before the blonde kept a layer of chakra concentrated an inch or two above his skin. It acted as like a shell, or a shield of sorts that allowed him to defend from weapon, jutsus and physical attacks. But instead of channeling his chakra into the air directly above his arms he channeled it into his arms this time.

His arm starting from a bit above his elbows, began to grow darker as it lowered, turning completely black a bit below the elbow. It didn't looked like his arm was covered in a thin coating of darkness. Instead his arm was giving off tendrils of shadowy smoke off into the air as if the whole thing was made of shadow itself. When the blonde waved his arm it left traces of black chakra behind in the air that wafted and disappeared.

"_I've got to watch out for those arms." _Lee narrowed his eyes.

Naruto made the first move.

The blonde lowered his body to the ground, almost completely parallel. He concentrated chakra to the soles of his feet, creating a flat cylinder of black chakra behind him. He kicked off of it, creating a small explosion of black chakra in his wake. The speed was almost instantaneous, the blonde covered the distance between him and Lee before the latter could even blink.

Naruto jabbed in quick succession with his left hand forcing Lee to wince at the weight and the impact behind them. The weight carried in the jabs were heavy enough to actually lift Lee off of the ground a couple of inches two times. Lee noted the sudden drastic increase in strength.

"_Let's knock it up a notch."_

Naruto's next punch blew through Lee's guard and hit his face with enough force to send the genin staggering.

"_His strength went up… drastically." _

Lee recovered almost immediately staying on his toes and leaping upwards, his fist cocked to strike Naruto in the face.

Naruto was faster.

The blonde rushed in so close that his shoulder bumped into Lee's chest. The green clad genin was unable to adjust to the sudden change in distance and position and his fist swept by Naruto's nose. Naruto used his other arm and for a single moment his body seemed to tense before he struck a palm strike right on Lee's chest. At the same time, Naruto hooked his leg in between Lee's own legs, placing the heel of his right foot on the heel of Lee's right foot. Naruto snapped his leg, kicking Lee's leg out from underneath him. He expected the genin to fall when Lee simply balanced himself on one leg.

Lee, using the momentum from Naruto's palm strike, swerved his torso backwards launching a kick towards the blonde's chin. Naruto leaned back and twisted his torso, dodging the kick though it left a long gash on his cheek. Then Naruto snapped his torso forward fist poised in an overhead punch. The jinchuuriki swung his fist in an overhead arc hitting Lee's stomach and bending the boy's body almost in two. The sound of Naruto's fist was like thunder, resounding through the clearing. Naruto, his torso facing the ground, spun his hips bringing his other fist towards the sky in an uppercut, hitting Lee's chin and sending a resounding crack through the clearing. The uppercut was strong enough to lift Lee off of his toes and sending him a few feet upwards into the air. Naruto held out his hands at the side and swirls of black began to form around his wrist in a split second.

A large ring of black chakra formed around Naruto's wrists, about four feet in diameter. The rings surface was rough and littered with tiny little spikes that seemed to converge and look bigger than they were when they spun. Naruto grunted and crossed his arms in front of him, sending the two rings into the air towards Lee. The shadow rings hit Lee with enough force to send him a few more feet up into the air. They seemed to grind into him, causing Lee to arc his back in pain.

A half a dozen kunai, so fast that they were only blurs in Naruto's eyes, stabbed through the rings, dispelling the constructs of shadow.

Tenten leaped up into the air grabbing Lee before he could fall.

Neji took a step forward. _"Each strike was aimed at a vital point… it's like he could see Lee's movements and analyze them immediately. Not only that, he saw the openings in Lee's stance and movements and was able to come up with an immediate counter that he could use to exploit the situation. This is no ordinary genin…"_

Lee pushed Tenten off of him.

"Lee!" There was a tone of warning in her voice.

Lee ignored her.

"You can't beat him Lee." Neji was sitting on the branch now, one knee close to his chest and his elbow resting on it.

"You fight too straight forward." Neji looked at his hand which was clenched into a fist. He opened it and bits of sand drifted from it, flying in the slight breeze.

"He's willing to do _anything _to win…" Neji gripped his fist grinding his fingers and the sand fell in a sudden waterfall. "That's the difference between you two."

Lee looked back, breathing heavily. There was a long cut in front of his suit that was bleeding. Neji noticed that on his chest where Naruto's palm strike had landed there was a pool of blood beginning to drip down to the open cut. He grimaced before looking at Naruto.

"Even it means he has to throw sand in your eyes." Neji finished.

"You can fight him later… in a proper arena." Tenten coaxed, her voice deceptively calm.

"I observed your fighting style." Neji jumped down from the branch and began to walk towards Naruto.

"When you used fists, chakra enhanced your strength beyond normal means, enough to blow not only through Lee's guard but rattle him with a single strike. Your palm strike expelled chakra in a miniature explosion, that was expelled inside his body, ripping his skin in a sudden reverse of his blood flow." The veins around Neji's eyes were pulsing with chakra. "The chop you used… you channeled your chakra into your hands and used it almost as if it was a blade. This was all done utilizing the physical properties of your chakra in different ways."

"_Just what kind of doujutsu…" _Naruto ground his feet.

Neji got into a stance, his arms on either side of him, facing Naruto while standing sideways. The veins around his face began to pulse with increasing regularity.

"Let me try my hand at him…"

…..

Sarutobi was finishing up the last of his paper works when there was a commotion outside of his door.

"Sir!" It was the voice of one of his guards. "You can't go in right now! The Sandaime is not taking any-"

"He'll see me."

Sarutobi recognized the voice and quickly finished up the paperwork, making sure that there were no typos on it before he put it on the other papers in a neat stack on the corner of his desk. He stapled his fingers and rested his forehead on them watching as Jiraiya shrugged in through the door.

"Sensei." Jiraiya greeted.

"Jiraiya." The Sandaime nodded at a piece of paper on the other side of his desk. "The information you asked for."

Jiraiya pulled up a chair sitting himself down on it. Though people usually fidgeted within the seat opposite of the Hokage's desk Jiraiya looked completely at home. This was due to two things, the fact that the person was in a perspective of a guest and the fact that the other person was the Hokage. The chairs were usually placed that way. While the Hokage sat by the seat of his own table, able to tuck his legs underneath it, Jiraiya had no space to do so and he had to sit a couple of inches away from it. The chair he was on was stiff and uncomfortable while the Sandaime's chair was large, soft and comfy as well as big enough to be imposing. It was a common feeling when one say in front of a doctor or a teacher's desk. It was a strategy aimed at the person's psyche to make them think the other person in charge.

However Jiraiya had been in this seat many times. He had been subject to countless lectures by his teacher in his youth in this chair. Then his student had been elevated to the position of Hokage and he had visited him often enough. Jiraiya wasn't a subject to this little mental game. His little signs of confidence was something that sent the sign that he was in no way inferior to the other person that sat opposite of him. It wasn't anything that was purpose on his part, Jiraiya wasn't anything that was purpose on his part, Jiraiya was simply comfortable and nothing else.

The Third Hokage brought himself out of his musings and turned his attention back to Jiraiya.

"So what did you find?"

Jiraiya sighed as he looked over the paper that the Sandaime had given him. "A Doujutsu eh…"

The Sandaime frowned. "You don't look too surprised."

"He won't have it for long." Jiraiya went over to the next page his eyes moving left to right.

"Explain."

Jiraiya settled back in his seat. "The Doujutsu is a temporary side effect of his body coping with chakra. It's not really a doujutsu it's simply…" Jiraiya gestured with his hands trying to find the right word.

"Enhanced?"

"Exactly." Jiraiya agreed, counting off on his fingers. "Enhanced sight, sense of hearing, smell, touch and even taste. Those are all symptoms that both Mito, and to a lesser extent, Kushina experienced. The doujutsu might look weird now but it'll become barely noticeable as soon as his eyes get used to it. That's all it gives him, an increased sight."

"So it's nothing like the Sharingan."

"There's more." Jiraiya took out a scroll from the folds of his clothing and passed it to his teacher.

"The Black Chakra… is not a result of the Kyuubi."

"What are you saying?" The Hokage asked.

"Most hosts have all of the above, though in Naruto's case it's severe simply because of the Kyuubi's raw chakra." Jiraiya sighed. "Naruto is a special case. There has been no instances of the tailed beasts giving them Kekkai Genkai or any other thing like it. The most that they could receive was amounts of chakra that is the same affinity as the tailed beasts."

"Here's the problem." Jiraiya paused then continued. "The Kyuubi… never had black chakra."

The Hokage froze.

Jiraiya was right. The Kyuubi's chakra was blood red and nothing else. It was volatile and acidic, enough to act like poison for people who got even near them. There were two main differences between Naruto's chakra and the Kyuubi's chakra. Naruto chakra was black and while it could be used in destructive ways, it was by no means volatile. It was rather deceptively calm, reacting in a very calm manner. However the Kyuubi's chakra was volatile to the point that a simple disturbance was enough to make it react. The second difference was the physical aspect of their chakra. Naruto's chakra was an element unto itself, it was a shadow that could be touched. But the way that Kyuubi achieved this was by simply layering shells and shells of chakra, almost uncountable, on top of each other. If Naruto's chakra was quality, then the Kyuubi's chakra was quantity pure and simple. There was no way for Naruto's black chakra to have been the result of the Kyuubi… but…

"The Kyuubi unlocked it." The Sandaime muttered, reaching the conclusion.

"The Black chakra was a special condition for a select few of the Uzumaki clan." Jiraiya nodded. "It was a latent ability that could only be unlocked by a very few individuals. The Uzumaki clan, known for their vitality and special chakra had many different areas. Though most of them specialized in seals, the vitality and chakra was an inherent ability in all of them. Whether the chakra was used for healing or for battle, they were all unique."

"There's a few stories about those who wielded this black chakra." Jiraiya whispered.

The Sandaime began to listen.

"Usually the people who wielded black chakra didn't last too long. You see, having a physical construction of chakra in your body is stressful, but to continue to expel it and shape it is even more stressful. It puts a strain on his chakra points and pores. When we expel chakra, it's ethereal so we barely feel it. But his chakra is a hundred, no, a thousand times greater in density than ours."

"It's ripping his chakra pores apart each time he uses it..." The Sandaime whispered.

"That's not the only thing." Continued Jiraiya. "Usually they could use it only because they were of the Uzumaki Clan. Greater vitality, so they were able to use it in limited bursts of power, but it was still unadvised. Prolonged use ended up in them not being able to use chakra at all."

"But then how did they-"

"They usually relied on weapons to channel their chakra for them." Jiraiya sighed. "They usually favored weapons that were bigger than other weapons because it could withstand the duress of their chakra. But Naruto's a different story."

"The Kyuubi's regeneration factor."

"Yes…" Jiraiya agreed. "His chakra pores heal as soon as their damaged. But it's not a permanent solution, only a temporary one. He will, at some point, lose the ability to use black chakra if he continues in this way."

"He won't be able to be a ninja anymore."

Silence reigned.

The Sandaime closed his eyes in thought of the blonde, regret invading his heart. He hadn't been able to do anything for the boy. He knew about the boy's situation but he couldn't help him. The Council hated the boy with a passion and the knowledge that Naruto was the son of their Hero was a rather esoteric in its nature. The Fourth Hokage's enemies littered the world and they weren't confined to the walls of other villages. In his rise to power Minato had made enemies left and right, even within Konoha itself. There were a handful of people that knew that Naruto was the heir of not only the Uzumaki Clan but the Namikaze clan as well. Their were plenty of people in the world that wanted Naruto not only dead, but worse, under their control. There were people who wanted the Kyuubi within him. There were people who hated Minato and wanted to take out their vengeance on his child. There were those who were still researching the unique properties of the Uzumaki clan's chakra. The Hokage's interest in Naruto and continued protection of him would only serve to paint a bright target on Naruto for his enemies to aim at. By closing his eyes to the abuse Sarutobi, had in a way, been protecting Naruto.

But it didn't break his heart any less.

He had received his reports from Kakashi. About the boy's rapid growth, how he was beginning to open his heart and his talent as a shinobi. He had heard about Naruto's dream to become Hokage to protect his sense of justice, to uphold his belief and to protect those whom were weaker than him. He had heard about the incident at the wave, about Naruto's proclamation, not just to protect his allies, but his enemies even if it was from themselves. It was a hard road that the Jinchuuriki had chosen but Sarutobi had marveled at the sheer conviction that the blonde possessed.

And here Jiraiya was telling him it was about to all crumble.

Sarutobi, the Third Hokage hailed as the Professor, the student of the Shodaime and the Nidaime as well as the Creator of the three Sannin, hailed as one of the greatest and strongest ninjas of their world, had never felt as small and powerless until then.

He could do nothing.

He opened his eyes to find Jiraiya smiling at him.

Hiruzen's eyes widened.

"You…"

"If he passes the second part of the exams," Jiraiya got up a smirk on his face. "Give me reign over his training. I have the necessary tool that I got for him, a little souvenir from the wave… as well as a strategy to help the boy."

"I'm not a Sannin for nothing you know." With those words the white haired Sannin left through the very door he had come from, leaving the shocked Sarutobi behind him.

Sarutobi smiled and looked down at his folded hands. They looked different, weathered with age and his veins much easier to see than ever before.

"_Jiraiya… thank you." _

….

Naruto lay on the ground on his stomach barely holding onto a thin thread of consciousness.

Neji bent down picking up a kunai that was stabbed into the ground. He grabbed it by its handle and pulled it out, putting it in his holster near his hip. He looked at Naruto, deactivating his Byakugan. Neji glanced at their battle field which had become a wreck. There were several large craters, caused by Naruto's kicks. There were large shockwave grooves in trees and on the ground as well. There was a single sphere like place on the ground where Neji had been forced to use his own technique.

"That was a good battle Naruto." Neji muttered, breathing hard. There was a single part near his forearm where he was bleeding. On his forearm were three hole like wounds that was the source of the blood. Neji was holding that arm's shoulder with the opposite hand.

Naruto looked up Tenshingan deactivated.

"We won't take your scroll." Neji nodded at the blonde's fallen teammates. "This wasn't a fair battle and I don't want to take a scroll from fellow Konoha Ninja…"

Neji returned to where Lee and Tenten were waiting for him.

"Next time…" Neji paused, leaping up to the branch that Tenten was sitting on.

"We'll settle this in a proper arena." With those parting words the Hyuuga leaped away into the forest, disappearing from view immediately.

"You're not that bad." Tenten got up, dusting her knees.

"But we're just better." She shot the blonde a smile, leaping after her teammate.

Lee remained.

Naruto struggled to get up when his arms failed him. His chest fell to the ground again and he growled in frustration before noticing Lee's stare.

"Naruto-kun," said Lee, not taking his eyes off of the blonde. "Next time… I will show you the beauty of the Lotus." The green suit wearing genin disappeared after his teammates leaving the blonde alone.

Naruto struggled to his feet, swaying slightly. He coughed, feeling blood well up in the back of his throat. He looked towards the direction where Neji, Lee and Tenten had just left.

"_I lost…" _Naruto winced and looked at his hand. _"As expected… that little trick with my chakra ruined my hand. But it's recovering…" _He looked again towards the direction where Neji had walked in. _"That guy… was strong. Unlike the green suit, he was using some kind of traditional style… something greater than what I could fight with. If my style is a style that utilizes street fighting and incorporates dirty fighting, his style is something more honorable, something that's been honed by his family. Not only that it was like he could see my weaknesses… just like how the Tenshingan shows me openings in the target's stance and movements, it was like he could see everything." _

He heard Sasuke moan behind him.

The blonde reluctantly tore his gaze away from it, staggering towards his fallen teammates.

"_My first priority is to escape from this exam alive… we already have a set of scrolls. All we need to do is get out of here." _Naruto sat down next to his teammates and replaced the towel on Sasuke's head. _"My revenge on that white eye… can wait." _

…..

Team 7 walked through the forest.

Sakura glanced at the blonde, noting his ripped clothing and fresh wounds. This was the fifth day of the exams and the last day for them to pass. Thankfully, Naruto had the scrolls necessary for them to pass. They were close enough to the tower to see it. It wouldn't take too long for them to get there. She looked at Sasuke who walked in between them. Ever since the Uchiha had awoken, something had been weird. He was more aggressive and more prone to bouts of anger. Naruto didn't say much other than to warn them not to make so much noise.

Sasuke hissed in pain gripping his neck again.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura was at his side in an instant.

The Uchiha hissed again leaning on a nearby tree for support.

Naruto kept on walking.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled out causing the blonde to glare back in response.

"_I told her countless times to keep her voice down." _Naruto stopped and turned around facing his two teammates. He closed his eyes and extended his senses making sure that no one was near them. He opened his eyes again to find Sakura watching him patiently.

"We can't do this." Sakura began, supporting Sasuke on the other side. "Sasuke-kun's too hurt and you're not in the best shape either. We need to rest or Sasuke-kun will-"

"I'm fine." Sasuke grunted. "Let me go."

Naruto watched as Sasuke pushed Sakura away gently and stopped leaning on the tree for support. The Uchiha's complexion was visibly paler than before and sweat was dripping from his forehead. He was half hunched over, his bangs casting shadows over his eyes. He smirked and looked at Naruto, his eyes the only thing about him that wasn't tired yet.

"I can go on."

Naruto nodded beginning to turn around.

Sakura grabbed the blonde's shoulder abruptly turning him around. Naruto frowned as Sakura leaned so that their faces were only a hair's width apart, breathing heavily.

"Sasuke-kun needs to rest Naruto." She whispered.

"He's fine. He said so." Naruto gestured at the Uchiha who was leaning on the tree, watching them closely.

"I said he needs to rest." The pink haired kunoichi grabbed the front of Naruto's shirt pulling.

Naruto slapped Sakura's hand away, not even making an effort to hide the displeasure on his face.

"Sasuke himself said he's fine," Naruto began in a monotone. "So stop bothering me about it… we don't have the time nor the energy to waste by arguing here. If we don't make it to the center of the tower by sundown… we might not make it back in one piece."

Sakura frowned.

"When it becomes night," Naruto explained. "Other ninjas will be rushing towards the tower in order to make it there before midnight." He poked her on the forehead with his index finger. "_Think _Sakura. The test ends at Midnight. But if it ends at midnight there's going to be hundreds of shinobi that's going to be rushing there to make it at the last minute. Do you really want to be caught up in that? Our team doesn't have enough energy left to survive another battle."

The genin looked away and down at the dirt. She realized that she knew about the situation even before Naruto had explained it to her. But she had been tired and seeing Sasuke in that situation had clouded her mind. She was grateful that Naruto saved them but… he had been pushing them relentlessly for the duration of the last day and she was reaching her limits. The thought of resting despite Naruto's orders crossed her mind. After all, if he was so strong what problem was a couple of genin?

Thoughts of the Sound Trio and Orochimaru resurfaced.

Sakura shook for a few seconds unwillingly and faced Naruto again.

"L-let's go."

Naruto nodded.

Team 7 began to walk again towards the tower.

….

Naruto stood with the other rows of genin. He took a quick glimpse seeing all the rookies standing shoulder to shoulder. Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji didn't seem to have suffered any wounds. Rather they looked more confident and cleaner than before. The blonde looked at the other team of rookies. While all the other genin stood with their chests out and back straight out of pride for having passed the second part of the exams, Hinata was the sole exception. She was looking down, a faint blush on her cheeks. Shino had his hands in his pockets and his sunglasses guarded his expression and where he was looking. Kiba seemed to be on edge giving nervous glances towards the three shinobi from Sunagakure no Sato.

"_They're all strong…" _Naruto barely noticed the genin called Kabuto walking out in the back of his mind.

The three shinobi from Sunagakure no Sato stood apart from the rest of the group. There was the tall boy wearing a full black body suit with small eyes. He had a large package with fur lining the top on his back. He had purple face paint adorned over his cheek and a hoodie over his head. The hoodie had two triangular appendages giving him the appearance of a cat. The boy had calculating eyes that seemed to be analyzing everyone else in the room.

The other member of his team was a pretty girl with spiky blonde hair. She had tied it up so that she had four pig tails lined up on the back of her head. She wore a light lavender colored garment that came off of her shoulders and extended to the middle of her thighs. There was a scarlet sash tied around her waist and on her back was a large fan folded up. She wore her forehead protector wrapped around her neck. The girl had mesh over her shoulders and thighs that most likely extended underneath her clothes for protection as well. She had a confident smirk on her face as she studied the other genin.

Then there was the red haired boy.

The boy had the hair color of blood. Strangely he had no other eyebrows on his face, only serving to make his forehead look wider. He had black rings around his eyes that initially looked like bags from loss of sleep but upon a longer look Naruto realized that they were not anything of the sort. The boy wore a black t-shirt like body suit and over it he wore a white sash wrapped diagonally over his body. On his back was a large gourd stopper at the top with a cork. On this white sash the metal plating of the forehead protector for his village was attached to it.

Their eyes met for the briefest of moments.

Gaara's green eyes widened.

Naruto broke contact first.

The blonde found that his breathing had quickened and his heart beat was beating faster. He clutched his chest frowning. There was something wrong with the boy's eyes, it was like staring into a bottomless pit filled with nothing but darkness.

Naruto knew these eyes…

They were like his.

They were eyes born of loneliness and hatred.

"Well that's it for the directions," The man called Gekko Hayate brought Naruto out of his thoughts with a cough. "Now we will announce of the first battle."

The screen flashed through various names until it settled on two names.

Uchiha Sasuke vs. Akado Yoroi

Every other genin filed up the stair cases towards the stands on the sides until only the two genins were left.

…..

Sasuke looked at his opponent.

"_He looks strong…" _Sasuke winced and grabbed the back of his neck, feeling the cursed seal act up. _"I can't fight for long…" _

His opponent, Yoroi, wore a mask around his mouth that hung around his neck. He wore sunglasses that obscured his eyes and a forehead protector that he wore like a bandanna. He wore the same attire as the rest of his team, a high collared sleeveless black shirt with a short sleeved white one underneath. He wore a simple obi around his waist, pants and sandals with fingerless gloves.

Hayate cleared his throat.

"If it gets too serious I'll step in." He coughed a few times. "Is that ok?"

Sasuke nodded glaring at his opponent.

"Don't use the sharingan."

Sasuke's eyes widened recognizing Kakashi's voice. The Uchiha turned around to see but the jounin was already gone standing up in the stands between Sakura and Naruto. He saw Sakura give him a worried look before whispering something to Kakashi. The jounin shot the girl a smile before giving her an answer. Though he was too far away to hear what he said it seemed to relieve the girl. Sasuke turned his attention back to the fight at hand.

"Now if you will…" Hayate muttered.

"Begin."

With that single word the two ninja burst into movement.

Sasuke immediately leaped away, putting distance between himself and Yoroi. The older ninja gave chase reaching into his pouch and throwing three shuriken. Sasuke reached into his holster on his thigh and took out a kunai. He gathered chakra into his eyes without even meaning too. Using the sharingan in battle had become a habit by now. It wasn't that Sasuke had ignored Kakashi's warning or advice, but activating the sharingan was second nature to him already. It was an action that was ingrained into his genes and into who he was. Sasuke saw the path of the shuriken and swung his torso forward hitting the shuriken exactly at their tips. Not only did the Uchiha block them but he sent them back flying towards Yoroi.

Sasuke's whole body lurched as a burning sensation spread through his body like lightning. The Uchiha progenitor stifled his scream and put out a hand managing to keep himself from falling towards the floor. Without a second to spare Sasuke immediately bent his torso backwards and saw Yoroi's hand crush _through _the stone floor the area right below where Sasuke's head had been. The boy flicked his kunai upwards towards Yoroi's face but the ninja copied Sasuke's movements allowing the weapon to sail by him harmlessly.

Yoroi snapped his body back.

Sasuke froze, the pain in his neck intensifying.

Yoroi's palm slammed into Sasuke's forehead. However instead of pulling back after the initial strike the genin pushed with his palm. Sasuke fell backwards with Yoroi on top of him. Yoroi took the mounted position and with his other hand grabbed Sasuke's wrist pinning his other hand to the floor. Sasuke attempted to bring his other arm to get Yoroi off of him when to his shock it hit Yoroi's face with feeble strength. It couldn't even be called a punch, it was simply a tap.

"Y-you…" Sasuke managed in a whisper. "My chakra…"

Yoroi smirked beneath his mask.

"That's my special ability," Yoroi pressed down harder on Sasuke's forehead though it was unnecessary. "To absorb my opponent's chakra and use it as my own."

Sasuke yelled gathering strength and managed to get a leg between his chest and Yoroi. The Uchiha kicked his opponent in the chin, sending Yoroi staggering away. Sasuke rolled backwards coming up to his feet when his vision blurred. The boy stayed on his knees on the ground, his hand clutching his neck.

"_I can't prolong this any longer..." _

"SASUKE-KUN DON'T LOSE!"

Sasuke looked up at the stands to find Sakura looking at him. Kakashi had his hands in his pocket and was looking down at him with a masked expression. Next to their sensei was Naruto leaning on the railing with both hands and looking at him with apparent boredom.

An idea hit Sasuke.

"Let's see if this works." Sasuke got up to his feet swaying slightly.

Yoroi recovered from the kick and launched himself towards Sasuke.

"I'll finish this!"

Yoroi reached out with a palm, glowing with his own chakra.

Sasuke turned his body while lifting up one leg off the floor, narrowly dodging the strike. Then to Naruto, Kakashi and Sakura's shock Sasuke lurched in the opposite direction. Sasuke hooked the bend of his knee so that it was caught between Yoroi's arm and leg.

"_That's my move…" _thought Naruto with narrowed eyes.

Sasuke yelled and jumped up off of the floor. Sasuke's left leg was wrapped around Yoroi's arm and neck. The Uchiha leaped off of the floor with his right leg and slammed his knee into Yoroi's temple. Yoroi lurched towards Sasuke's left while Sasuke landed on the ground with his left foot. Sasuke, right leg, bent at the knee, snapped out so that the sole of his foot slammed into the opposite side of Yoroi's head where he had been just strike. Yoroi's body straightened when Sasuke's right leg straightened as well and caught the back of Yoroi's neck with his heel. With another cry of strength Sasuke slammed Yoroi's face to the floor sending numerous cracks along the stone ground.

The Uchiha fell back as waves of pain began to invade not only his neck but his entire lower body.

"_Naruto's taijutsu isn't something that can be done even if its copied. Sasuke probably won't be able to move for awhile." _Kakashi watched as Hayate checked to see if Yoroi was still conscious. He peered at Naruto from the edge of his eye. _"Naruto knows this too… but I wonder how he feels about it." _

"Uchiha Sasuke has passed the preliminaries!"

….

"Nice taijutsu." Shino commented.

"Bah," Kiba scratched Akamaru on the ear. "Nothing really special but… I have to admit, the kick was nice."

"W-wow…" Hinata commented watching Sasuke. "H-He's really strong."

Kurenai glanced at Kakashi who was on the other side of the stands. _"That's not Kakashi's taijutsu… just what did you teach that boy Kakashi? I've never seen those type of movements." _

…

"Wow," Chouji turned to look upwards at Asuma. "Sensei what kind of movements was that?"

"Well," Asuma scratched the back of his head. "It looks like Kakashi taught his kid something scary. Have to admit, I've never seen grapples using the legs in that way before. It's not bad." Asuma winked at Chouji. "But there's a fatal weakness in it."

"What weakness?" Ino pointed at Sasuke. "He totally owned his opponent!"

"It's a pretty good kick and carries power." Asuma explained. "The movements depend on two separate movements. The movements are an arc, the spinning of the hips and a straight line, such as when he kicked him in the face. When Sasuke hooked his leg around his arm and neck, he was utilizing the arc movement. The knee strike to his temple had to do with Sasuke pushing off of the same foot and carrying all his weight into the opponent's head. The opponent can't escape because his neck is caught between the bend of the other leg."

"Then he brings him down to the left so that his sense of balance is screwed up." Continued Asuma looking down as Shino and the sound genin called Zaku took the stage. "Then with his _right _leg he kicks him in the opposite direction."

"Ah," said Shikamaru as understanding dawned on him. "He's using the opponent's momentum against him."

"Yeah," The jounin took a drag out of his cigarette before resuming speaking. "But there are two scary parts of this technique. First is the leg hook. It keeps the opponent from getting away and produces the momentum needed for the technique."

"It's a technique that doesn't need the opponent to move," Shikamaru commented. "You provide the momentum yourself…"

"That's right." Asuma looked over at where Naruto and Sakura were watching the battle. "The second thing is the heel strike… you normally can't do those type of kicks. You require a crazy amount of training… and if my guess is correct, it'll probably tear your leg muscles apart."

"That's why he couldn't move?" Ino asked. "I thought he was just tired…"

"No." The jounin looked at Ino. "He didn't sustain enough damage… it was the kick. If that boy continues to use that style of taijutsu… he might lose use of his leg muscles eventually. It's a dangerous move… I'm surprised Kakashi taught something like that to Sasuke. I'm even more surprised that he was able to do it."

"Sasuke-kun's the only one on that team who can do it though," Ino smirked. "He's a genius after all."

Asuma agreed. "It's a very rare and powerful form of taijutsu but… I wouldn't count on it." He smiled at his team. "He most likely uses it for finishing blows… I can't imagine anyone using it for the whole battle after all."

….

AN: End. I'm going to skip the rest of the battles. Sorry if I feel like I'm going to rush this chapter and the next. I really want to get Naruto to meet Jiraiya cause I think it's time for Naruto to have more than freaking just black chakra. I mean yeah, it's powerful and all but… Well, let's just say Jiraiya will make Naruto into an ACTUAL shinobi not just a thug who kicks and punches really hard.

Quinn1989: Don't know about it yet. I'll think about it. Well I have pretty specific plans for Naruto in the upcoming chapter or two.

TheDon1023: I'm giving him a weapon. I'm sure a lot of you figured out what it is already though.

That's it for the questions I guess. As for everyone else well, just know that I read EVERY SINGLE REVIEW. If I didn't I wouldn't be answering questions! Thanks for the encouragements! I go back to school soon so the updates might slow down but they're going to continue! Let's go! Review!


	8. Dog Fight

AN: Time to update this fan favorite. Well between this an Curse of the Samurai I don't know which one is more loved.

….

"Uzumaki Naruto! Inuzaka Kiba!"

Following Hayate's call Kiba leapt over the railing, his dog Akamaru rolling a few times in midair before landing on all fours. Kiba smirked, obviously impressed by his own acrobatic exercise.

"_Show-off." _Naruto took the stairs, conserving his energy.

Kakashi nodded in approval. He was kneeled next to Sakura, checking her pulse. Her battle had just ended and he was in no rush to wake her. She would wake soon enough. He winced realizing that his overt concerns for his student might have been a tad insensitive.

"It's all right Kakashi," Gai's voice was devoid of the usual fire. "You should look after your student."

Kakashi winced in sympathy. They had just seen Lee and the foreign genin, Gaara's battle. Though the future of Lee was at stake Gai had remained behind. Tenten had lost as well but Neji had won. Normally this would be a cause for celebration but the match had ended in Neji's favor under unsportsmanlike circumstances. That along with Lee's current condition was more than enough to put a damper on Gai's usual mood.

The one-eyed jounin knew that nothing he said would be the right thing to say. He sighed and looked around the stage. It was a two story building built precisely for the chuunin exams. He remembered having his own exam here. Except now he was on the second floor looking down at the ground where Naruto had just gotten off of the stairs. While Kiba was jumping lightly to and fro on his toes bustling with energy his own pupil was the pinnacle of calmness. He knew that Naruto wasn't one to lose his temper or lose control of his emotions and for that, he was extremely proud of him. Then Kakashi averted his gaze to find Kurenai looking at him with an absolutely predatory grin. Her arms were crossed emphasizing her… well, Kakashi didn't want to go there because rumors dictated that she was taken. The person who had apparently taken her (though he didn't know how metaphorical the word 'taken' could be in this circumstance) was leaning on the railing, supporting his head with two hands. He had adopted a cocky grin on his face. Ino, Sakura's opponent, was already awake and she was looking down at the battle that was about to start.

"_Naruto has no chance against him." _Kurenai mouthed to him from the opposite side of the arena. Kakashi was too well trained to make a response. Instead he smiled at her, his one visible eye turning into an upside down-U.

Kurenai pursed her lips, slightly sour that her remark had gone ignored. She looked down at the battle to find Kiba looking up at her expectedly.

"_Do it." _Kurenai mouthed to him.

…

Kiba caught the message from his teacher. He looked down at his partner who yipped at him. The Inuzaka smiled in reply and reached down scratching him just behind the ears. Akamaru sat down and scratched the same spot with his hind legs. Kiba looked up at Naruto who was watching him without a care in the world.

Kiba cleared his throat.

"You're going to lose."

At Kiba's words the people in the arena strained forward to hear his voice. Usually these little conversations before the battle were just as interesting as the battles themselves. It added a little spice to the fight that would soon happen.

Naruto raised an eyebrow and scratched the dirt with his toe feeling it shift with his weight. He wondered if he should deign that with a reply.

"_Might as well play along." _The blonde shrugged to himself.

"Why?"

Kiba seized on that little word. So far as he knew the blonde allowed actions to speak. Everything was a weapon for shinobi. Kurenai had taught Kiba that words were weapons as well, something that not many people used. If Kiba could get into the head of his opponent half the battle was already won. This type of strategy was something typical for a Genjutsu Specialist, a fitting lesson that Kurenai taught to all her students. Of course considering Shino and Hinata's character and personality it wasn't a lesson well suited for them. However for Kiba it was perfect. In a way it was a compliment for Naruto it meant that Kiba wasn't looking down on him. He was doing everything possible to beat Naruto.

"Because I have a reason to win… and you don't."

Naruto raised an eyebrow in reply. He was growing bored of the chat already. He looked at Hayate.

"_Can I hit him now?" _

Hayate simply did his trademark cough and looked away from Naruto.

Kiba waited expectedly for Naruto's reply.

The blonde complied making a vague hand gesture. "So… what?"

Kiba frowned. That wasn't the answer he wanted or was expecting. He expected Naruto to scoff and challenge his claim but Naruto was-

"You don't need a reason to be strong." Naruto felt a smirk creep into his voice. "I'm not like you other weaklings." He gestured around at their audience. Each of the Jounin shared a look.

"_Did he just…" _was the general thought consensus being shared around the stadium.

"I fucking hate this village and its motto." Naruto suddenly snarled his expression darkening.

An audible gasp circled around the room.

"The bullshit of Will of Fire?" The blonde turned away from Kiba and faced the crowd. He saw Kakashi begin to shake his head.

"Strength lies in protecting someone important to you?" Naruto continued. "True strength? Friends? Comrades?"

He slashed his hand in the air. "That holds no meanings for me."

Naruto's eyes turned cold.

He looked at every single one of them.

Even the Hokage.

"You weaklings might need a reason to be strong…" He turned back to Kiba. "But I don't. So don't spout that bullshit to me."

"A dead friend? The will of fire? A precious person?" Naruto spat on the ground. To the Konoha Shinobi in the audience it was a symbolic act.

He was spitting on the very thing they stood for.

"I don't need a reason to be strong."

"Power just is. Power doesn't exist to protect or to destroy." Naruto held up a hand getting into his stance. "You might need a reason to force yourself to be strong. I don't. I'm going to be strong… because I want to be. That's all the justification I need."

Hayate looked between Kiba who was staring open mouthed at the blonde then at the audience around them.

Each of the jounin, every single one, had death in their eyes.

Hayate nodded.

"Start."

…..

The mood is always important thought Naruto.

His little speech and talks was him spitting on the Konoha shinobi and of course, Kiba was one. Right now he had insulted the very foundation of the village. The Jounin was angry, Hayate was angry and the Hokage was angry and the air itself was hostile. The hostility became a physical thing choking out all other thoughts and smothering all thoughts of sanity.

It was that thought that drove Kiba towards Naruto, losing control of his senses and control.

He had played the game.

Except that Naruto was the one who had done the engineering.

Kiba threw three shuriken each flying on alternate paths and angles. Naruto quickly reached within himself and his chakra came to the surface at once, answering his call. Chakra surged to the surface of his skin, covering it with a thick solid palpable shadow. Naruto slapped the three shuriken down with his bare hands knowing that the chakra would protect his skin.

Kiba was right in front of him.

"_Fast." _Naruto remarked.

"_But not fast enough." _

Naruto spun to the side like a dancer, pivoting on one foot. Then he lifted one foot off of the ground slamming the sole of his sandals into the back of Kiba's head. He followed through with the kick slamming Kiba's face into the ground behind him. Naruto was about to turn to follow through and finish the fight when something furry and white rushed towards his face. Acting on instinct Naruto raised a knee, his shin snapping out. His foot slammed into Akamaru's side sending the small dog tumbling on the ground.

Kiba, with the precious seconds that Akamaru bought him, got to his feet realizing that his back was exposed.

"_What kind of counter was that?" _Kiba swallowed taking out a few shuriken to buy some time.

Naruto was already in front of him.

"Middle." Naruto muttered.

Kiba barely had time to respond "What?" as something very solid slammed into the side of his body crushing his kidney.

Naruto felt satisfaction as spit flew out of Kiba's mouth in an explosive spray. Naruto leaned back to make sure that none of them landed on him.

"Middle again."

Kiba saw Naruto's right leg coming up and guarded his left using what semblance of coherence he had left to do it.

In a movement that was too fast for Kiba to see, Naruto's feet flickered through the air and he suddenly switched feet slamming his left leg into Kiba's ribs. Kiba actually grunted in pain but managed to keep things within his mouth. But Naruto didn't give him a time to rest.

"Low." With the same leg Naruto changed it angle and trajectory surprising Kiba. His shin slammed into the back of Kiba's thighs who flexed unconsciously. But the kick was more than that.

Naruto's Tenshingan was spinning.

The Tenshingan, known as the Heaven God Eye was a gift of the Kyuubi. Naruto had used it to see pressure points, weaknesses in the opponent's stance and body. It was the ultimate taijutsu doujutsu. Using it Naruto had a deeper understanding of the human physiology.

Kiba fell to the ground his leg going numb.

"If you get hit there," The three triangles placed evenly apart touching his iris were spinning idly. "Not even the Hokage himself can stand up."

But Kiba wasn't dumb either.

Taijutsu was obviously not an area that he should face Naruto in.

His ever present partner, Akamaru leapt on top of Kiba's head just as his master finished making the hand seals.

"Human Beast Clone Technique."

Smoke surrounded both of them as the chakra transformed them.

Two blurs shot out of the smoke.

"_Fast… and faster." _Naruto lowered one hand, the other guarding his face. He shifted his weight making sure no matter which side each of them came from his legs would be able to react.

They were moving too fast for Naruto to get a good look at his face but he got glimpses. It was obvious from the size that both Kiba and Akamaru had grown a bit bigger but not substantially. He caught pictures of claws, sharp teeth and feral eyes. Akamaru had transformed into a bestial version of Kiba and Kiba had done the same, albeit his was less drastic. They were running circles around the blonde forcing him to shift his head left and right making sure one wouldn't rush him while the other occupied his attention.

It was exactly that happened.

Either Akamaru or Kiba rushed in from the side causing Naruto to respond. He leaped towards Naruto in a lunge his claws slashing the air in front of the blonde. To his credit Naruto, instead of leaping backwards as most people would have done, took a step towards him. Black chakra arced through the air, following the trajectory of Naruto's kick as it slammed on top of the clone's head slamming it chin first into the ground.

The other one rushed him from behind drilling into Naruto's back.

The blonde hissed in pain and he turned around immediately but Kiba was already dancing out of reach once more. In the time that it had taken Naruto to turn around the other one had escaped as well. Naruto snarled as they began to fall back into the same pattern running circles around Naruto in opposite direction confusing his sense of direction.

"_I can't allow this to continue." _Naruto's head began to work in overtime assessing the situation and a counter to get out of this little predicament. _"Remember… there's two of them. If I took the time to finish one off the other one would probably rush in to attack me. That attack would keep me from finishing off the first guy and the whole cycle would continue. I need to finish one of them off quick and fast before the other one can even approach me." _

Just as Naruto was turning over the situation in his head one of the two darted in again, teeth and claws flashing. Without thinking Naruto arced his foot over his head, drawing a semi circle with his black chakra. Just as his foot was about to slam into Akamaru or Kiba's face he felt something drill into his back causing his body to wrack with pain. As his body bent backwards his kick was thrown off of its trajectory and the initial assault slammed into him, leaving deep lacerations in his chest and stomach.

Then just as soon as they had come in the two darted out again.

Naruto fell to the ground, hissing in pain. He touched a hand to his stomach and it came back slick with blood.

Black chakra began to leak off of the boy.

Before they were simply covering his hands and feet leaving trails of black smoke when he moved. But now his whole body began to give it off sending off smoky trails into the air.

"Screw strategy." Naruto snarled mentally throwing away all of Kakashi's teachings and lessons. "I'm going to fucking kill you."

Kiba and Akamaru saw the black chakra and they had heard the rumors. They weren't going to wait for Naruto to show off whatever moves he had.

They were going to end it here.

"Akamaru!" Kiba yelled stopping a distance away from Naruto, facing the blonde. He didn't need to elaborate. He saw Akamaru stop behind Naruto the same distance away as Kiba was standing swaying his body from the sudden momentum.

"GATSUUGA!"

Everything seemed to be in slow motion to Naruto as Kiba executed his ultimate move. Kiba seemed to lunge towards Naruto but his feet were still planted on the ground. Then his whole upper torso twisted and the jinchuuriki could have sworn he heard a crack or two in his spine in this feat of flexibility.

Then just as soon as it had happened the slow motion effect seemed to disappear and Kiba turned into a blur of white as his feet left the ground. Gatsuuga was an extreme taijutsu move that involved the user spinning like a top increasing his destructiveness. Kiba flew, not in a straight line, but wavered slightly indicating his less than perfect control of the skill. The gatsuuga flew like a torpedo towards Naruto threatening to blow the blonde full of holes like Swiss cheese.

Even without looking Naruto knew that Akamaru was doing the same thing.

…

"It's over."

Shikamaru looked up at his teacher. "Are you sure?"

Asuma shrugged.

"Naruto was good. He established his superiority over Kiba in an instant. If Kiba stayed in close quarters and continued to challenge Naruto in taijutsu he would have inevitably lost. Kiba has a good head on his shoulders and he decided to change the battle into one of ninjutsu."

"With Kiba's mobility," Kurenai interjected. "Naruto will never catch him." She smirked. Of course her reasons for smirking wasn't just because her student had beaten Naruto. It was deeper than that. These three were the first students that Kakashi had taken a respected and well-known jounin. These three were Kurenai's first students as well. Everyone had wondered what Kakashi's students would be like. If her student exerted strength above that of Kakashi's it was a personal feat and achievement for Kurenai's abilities as a sensei. She had nothing personal against Kakashi, just that he was more like a benchmark for her to measure her abilities by.

"No…" said a voice.

The three turned around to find Shino.

Shino was shaking his head, breaking his usual silence.

"No. Naruto is stronger."

Ino nodded as well. "I don't know how you jounin senseis measure strength. I don't like what Naruto said either but it's true." She hugged herself while leaning her back against the wall. "Naruto… has something that Kiba don't." She took a deep breath. "Naruto's strength is real… and there's something about him that scares me."

"Something that Kiba doesn't have."

Asuma and Kurenai looked at each other frowning.

Then the two turned their attention back to the battle at hand just as Kiba crashed into Naruto from the front and Akamaru from the back.

…..

Smoke covered everything.

The dust and debris thrown up from the moment of impact between the three figures had caused a small explosion of chakra. Hayate covered his eye as the wind raged throwing up small pebbles, rocks and dust. He strained his eye trying to see through the cloud of dust. He had a pleasant image of Naruto lying on the ground beaten and Kiba standing over him in a victorious pose. He imagined that most of the jounin and konoha ninja was rooting for Kiba. Naruto was definitely the underdog of this battle because of what he said. No one wanted him to win and now that Kiba had clearly shown that the boy had virtually no skill in ninjutsu, the Inuzaka's victory was clear.

Until the cloud cleared.

Naruto stood.

He didn't just stand.

The ground he was standing on was caved inwards with little plates of rock pointing away from him. He held out one arm on each side of him his palms open. His palms were covered by a skin of black chakra. On each palm was Kiba and Akamaru, each of them still spinning in their Gatsuuga form. They were grinding into Naruto's palms sending up waves of black chakra flying past them but it was futile.

Naruto stood fast, his knees bent his arms out using one hand each to hold the Gatsuuga in place.

Kiba and Akamaru was still spinning.

…

Asuma opened his mouth in shock.

"Is that… even possible?" Shikamaru swallowed.

"Look at the ground he's standing on." Asuma was staring still shocked. "It's all broken. It means that at the point of impact not only did he stop each of them with one arm but he channeled the force into the ground."

"But…"

"Yes." Asuma answered. "He channeled the force through his own body. It must have been painful." He quickly glanced at Kurenai.

"This is impossible…" Kurenai muttered. "Not even a jounin should be able to stop Gatsuuga in that manner. The only one possible would be…" She swallowed and looked across at Gai who also seemed shocked.

"Apparently," Shino whispered so that no one else heard. "There's one more."

….

Naruto felt Kiba and Akamaru grinding into his palms. Then in a display of raw strength and exceptional body control he wrapped his fingers around the spinning missiles. Naruto screamed in effort slamming the two Gatsuugas into the ground causing the two to stop spinning immediately. Kiba immediately got back up to his feet, leaping backwards on all fours like a beast. Akamaru attempted to do the same still in Kiba's shape.

"No you don't." Naruto snarled and took a step in that direction. Akamaru growled and scratched the area in front of him. Naruto leaned back with his torso dodging the claws. However he kicked straight out slamming his foot into Akamaru's stomach. As the dog's eye bulged in pain Naruto rushed in.

Akamaru got a look at Naruto's eyes.

Blue, cold and those three triangles spinning wildly.

Naruto stabbed his index finger right into the middle of Akamaru's chest sinking it knuckle deep.

Akamaru exploded into smoke turning back into a white puppy.

A small splotch of red began to spread across the middle of the unconscious puppy's chest.

Naruto turned slowly, his Tenshingan visible for all to see.

"You're next." The words were said without any emotion or inflection.

Kiba lunged forward swinging wildly with a fist headed towards Naruto's face. Naruto swayed to the side easily dodging the punch. He repeated the same move as before spinning in place. Right before he completed the spin to resume the original position he lifted one leg slamming the soles of his foot into the back of Kiba's neck. Kiba sprawled onto the ground but quickly recovered and threw himself at Naruto again a kunai in his hand.

Naruto remained standing until Kiba stabbed towards him with the kunai. Naruto ducked underneath it while taking a step towards Kiba.

"_He got beneath his center of balance." _Gai noted.

The blonde thrust with one hand all the fingers pointed straight out stabbing it straight into Kiba's abdomen. With his other hand Naruto grabbed Kiba's wrist black chakra trailing from both hands. Kiba couldn't even make a sound as Naruto suddenly lifted the Inuzaka up into the air using one hand stabbed into his abdomen. Following up quickly Naruto took his hand out of Kiba's stomach causing the boy to fall towards him. Simultaneously Naruto brought his feet off of the ground flying parallel to the ground. Immediately he completed one spin and slammed his shin into the side of Kiba's neck.

Kiba rolled on the ground tumbling a few feet away unconscious.

Naruto landed on the same leg that he kicked with, standing up with it. He looked expectedly at Hayate.

The arena was silent.

"Winner," Hayate's quiet voice sounded like a roar in everyone's ears.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

….

A week had passed.

Naruto walked into the Hokage's office.

"I'm here old man." Naruto feigned disinterest, his blue eyes hidden by his bangs. "What do you want?"

"Naruto!" Iruka snapped frowning.

Naruto rolled his eyes in reply. "Hi to you too Iruka-sensei. Happy now?"

"That's not what I-"

Sarutobi held up a hand stopping Iruka's response. The chuunin grumbled but turned back to the paperwork on his desk scribbling furiously. The Sandaime cleared his throat and stapled his fingers in front of him, resting his chin on it.

"It's nice to see you Naruto. I congratulate you on passing the preliminaries." Sarutobi smiled at the blonde in front of him, his eyes crinkling.

Naruto shrugged. _"Hard not to." _He thought to himself and stood at attention, suddenly all business. He took one hand out of the pocket and placed a piece of paper on the desk. "You asked for me?"

Sarutobi nodded studying the boy. He was wearing black ninja clothing that jounin and chuunin favored. However the boy had yet to advance to the rank of chuunin so the green vest was missing. There was a strip of bandage wrapped around one thigh and the shin of the other. His Konoha Headband was tied loosely around his neck. The long unkempt hair hid the eyes but there were flashes of brilliant blue whenever he moved his head.

"I have a little C-rank mission for you."

The blonde raised an eyebrow. _"C-rank missions are usually reserved as solo missions for chuunin… or a team of experienced genin. I've never heard of a genin going on a solo C-rank mission. If it's a C-rank and he's sending only me on it-" _

"Of course it's only natural that you're not the only one."

There was a visible lowering of the shoulders as the blonde's ego deflated. He glanced at the Hokage from the corner of his eyes.

"We know all too much of your record." Iruka released the pencil and picked up a piece of paper reading off from it though he already knew it by heart. "Apprehension of the missing-nin Momochi Zabua and the former hunter-nin Yuki Haku. It says in Kakashi's report that you were instrumental in that mission. Also your second C-rank mission states you single handedly captured the missing-nins… Fuudou and Raidou, the Fat Brothers."

Naruto nodded at a listing of his accomplishments.

"You're going to be traveling out of the village."

"What?!" The blonde showed the first sign of emotion since entering the room.

Iruka raised an eyebrow. "Did you just raise your voice at the-"

"I have the Chuunin exam is less than four weeks," Naruto ignored Iruka speaking over him. "I can't afford to leave the village on some wild goose chase. I need to train-"

"It looks like the prospect of the chuunin exam has you nervous huh?" The Hokage said with humor. He enjoyed cracking Naruto's outer shell. Iruka smiled as well. Despite his harsh words it was heartwarming to get a glimpse into the boy's inner psyche.

"_These two…" _Naruto fought down the initial surge of panic schooling his expression. He took a deep breath realizing that they had fished for that precise response from him.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to turn this one down." He crossed his arms.

The hokage shook his head. "I never said you can't train on this mission. The person who's accompanying you on this mission… well perhaps it's best if I let him explain." The Sandaime took out a piece of paper and handed it to Naruto.

The blonde accepted it. He opened the note to find an address and name.

"_Jiraiya? Who's that? And this is a little place outside of the village. Not too far if I remember."_ Naruto folded the piece of paper and pocketed it.

"It's not an escort mission. The man can more than take care of himself." Sarutobi mused. "He's going on a mission to visit some old ruins. I want you to follow him and learn a thing or two from him. I assure you that this mission will help you more than any training."

Naruto considered the Third Hokage's advice. Truth be told he had already asked Kakashi to train him but the one eyed jounin had given him an excuse about Sasuke. He felt jilted by the response but he had expected it. Sasuke and Kakashi were both users of the sharingan of course Sasuke could learn more from Kakashi than Naruto could. Naruto knew that was an excuse. Kakashi clicked better with Sasuke and even from before he could see the special attention that he paid to the sullen Uchiha.

"_By Kami… it's better than following Kakashi's advice and following that green tights around." _Kakashi had let Naruto know that Gai had taken an interest in Naruto. He had even suggested that Naruto might go and ask Gai for some tips.

But Gai was Neji's teacher and Naruto knew that Kakashi knew that. The man was lazy and selfish, not dumb.

Naruto's reply had been along the lines of 'go fuck yourself.'

The one eyed Cyclops shrugged in reply. In reality he knew that he deserved it. He was neglecting Naruto and he had given him no route to follow. He felt a bit guilty but this was bigger than Naruto.

Sasuke had been approached by Orochimaru and-

Either way the Cyclops had abandoned Naruto and they both knew it.

"_He's offering me mentorship… not by himself but someone he knows." _Naruto considered the offer. _"Obviously it's this Jiraiya person…" _Naruto pursed his lips.

"I promise," Sarutobi pushed realizing that Naruto was turning the matter over in his mind. "That it won't be a waste of time. He's an excellent teacher. I assure you."

Iruka smiled inwardly.

"Fine." Naruto muttered. _"This wasn't a mission at all. Sarutobi was just trying to look out for me." _He looked up at the smiling old man's face. He wondered if his words the previous weeks at his fight with Kiba had affected their relationship in anyway. He shrugged. If the old man had harbored any ill will he would not have offered this opportunity for Naruto. He nodded in gratitude.

"I'll look into it." He muttered. The blonde wasted no time. He turned on his heel and abruptly left, forgoing the usual bow that was used as a gesture of respect towards elders, especially the Hokage.

Iruka shook his head at the fragrant disrespect in the blonde's attitude.

"It's fine Iruka." The Hokage thought back to his days with Jiraiya. The young-sannin had also been one who had not been too eager to show respect. At least Naruto didn't call him things like 'closet pervert' or 'old lecher.' Naruto's disrespect was more subtle than that, the way he held himself, the tone of his voice and his obvious disregard for protocol.

The Hokage felt the hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

…..

Jiraiya smiled as he saw a small blonde approach him.

"_Black Ninja-clothing… no kunai pouch to speak of. Little streaks of red in his head… not to mention those whiskers on his cheeks." _Jiraiya finished his small lunch that he had been eating, popping the last dumpling into his mouth. _"Looks just like his father." _

Naruto in turn studied Jiraiya. He was a large man, taller and wider than most ninjas were. He had long spiky white hair that hung down his back. The man was sitting on the small annex of a restaurant underneath the shade provided by an umbrella. The veranda was made of wood and attached to the first floor building. Naruto quickly glanced inside before approaching the man, noting that there wasn't a lot of customers.

"Jiraiya?" Naruto inquired once he was close enough.

The man in question raised an eyebrow.

Naruto didn't bother adding any title of respect for the elderly though it was clear the man was old enough to be his grandfather.

"Little shit…" Jiraiya grumbled getting up out of his seat. He put the money on the table, more than enough for the small lunch he ate.

It was Naruto's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"You know who I am?"

Naruto shrugged. "The Sandaime told me to come meet you. I've never heard of your name before this."

"What are they teaching in the academy these days…" Jiraiya sighed and shook his head. Then realizing something he smacked his fist into the palm of his other hand. "Oh yeah, you were the dumbass of your class weren't you? You were dead last if I remember correctly?"

The blonde narrowed his eyes.

"You know I don't really like taking Sandaime's word for it." Naruto stabbed a finger in Jiraiya's direction. "Are you even qualified to train me?"

Jiraiya sighed and looked up at the sky. "Oh Kami… I have a lot of work cut out for me huh…" He looked at Naruto. "I've read over your file gaki and it's pretty clear that you're just a thug who got lucky a few times. Let's not get ahead of ourselves here." The sannin felt a tinge of pride as he continued. "I assure you that I am more than qualified to waste my time training the dead last of… of anything really."

"Anyone can talk like the Hokage," Naruto shuffled his feet. "Doesn't mean they are."

"Are you challenging me?"

Naruto didn't reply but the silence was answer enough.

The white-haired man sighed. He didn't really want to waste time drilling pain and lessons into Naruto through the physical way.

"_The boy obviously has issues with authority figures… I wonder how Kakashi deals with this." _Jiraiya frowned, thinking. _"If I don't deal with this respect issue right now… it might affect our training and journey." _Jiraiya surprised Naruto by snapping his fingers. Then he shrugged.

"_It's not like I can do anything about it now. Maybe something will come up." _Jiraiya sighed and looked at the blonde.

"Let's go."

"Go?" Naruto frowned. "Go where?"

Jiraiya smiled realizing the next piece of news might actually get him on the boy's good side.

"The ruins of village hidden in the whirlpool… Uzushiogakure no Sato."

AN: Rewriting the last few chapters.


End file.
